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Who’s the Real 2014 French Open Favorite: Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic?
Published: May 20, 2014
Sure, according to the oddsmakers—as can be seen on Oddschecker.com—Rafael Nadal is still the favorite. Why wouldn't he be? He is the No. 1 player in the world and has won the French Open eight times in the last nine years. His record in Paris is a laughably dominant 59-1.
This year, however, Novak Djokovic is nipping at his heels. In fact, after Djokovic took out Nadal in the final of the Rome Masters on Sunday, many are calling the two co-favorites. (Shots like the one below certainly help Djokovic's case.)
So what happened this year to make the French Open a tossup? Well, it just so happens that the King of Clay has looked awfully common at times on the surface that he's dominated for the past nine years.
Since the ATP World Tour came to Europe for the clay season in April, Nadal has played in his usual four tournaments. He's 11-3 in that timespan with only one title. It's the first time in his entire career that he's coming into the French Open with only one title on clay.
It's been particularly shocking to see the caliber of players he's lost to. His first two losses came to fellow Spaniards David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo and Barcelona, respectively. His form has improved a bit the last two weeks in the Masters 1000s in Madrid and Rome, but he never looked quite like the best clay-court player of all time.
In Madrid, Nadal was trailing in the final to Kei Nishikori, a 24-year-old Japanese player who just last week cracked the top 10. The world No. 1 was down a set and a break to Nishikori before the upstart's back gave out. Nishikori had to retire in the third set, giving Nadal his fourth Madrid title. However, even Nadal's coach, Uncle Toni, didn't think his nephew deserved the trophy.
In Rom...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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