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However, tennis is not that simple and no one is on lock to win a title, especially a Grand Slam. The unexpected can happen and that is why sport is the best form of reality television. Who is the second favourite for the French Open? There are four men who might be able to capitalise if the great Spaniard exits the tournament, or maybe one of them may dethrone him.
The only man to defeat Nadal on clay in the last two years has been the Austrian powerhouse, and perhaps he is the only man who can do the unthinkable. Each year, Thiem happens to find his best tennis at Roland Garros and that shows in his impeccable results where he has been a semifinalist the past two years. There is no reason why the Madrid finalist cannot light up Paris once again.
The big question with the World #8 is we simply do not know which Thiem will turn up on the day. Earlier this year in Madrid he was outstanding against Nadal only to put in a poor performance in the final two days later. At the French Open last year, he was excellent in defeating Djokovic and then failed to reproduce that magic in the next round. Dominic Thiem will need to string together some amazing performances if he is to claim his first Grand Slam title.
The young German has without doubt been the second best player in the 2018 clay court season. He has won seventeen of his twenty matches on the red dirt this year, picking up titles in Munich and Madrid along the way. Zverev has reached the semifinals in all of his clay court tournaments this year and he even went on a stunning thirteen match winning streak so the German is clearly one of the in form players heading into Roland Garros.
The asterisks hanging over Zverev’s short career so far is that he has not been able to produce his best tennis in the Grand Slams. Despite having three Masters 1000s titles, the World #3 is yet to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Judging by his recent form, that streak will most likely end in very soon. Alexander Zverev has got a realistic shot of winning the French Open.
The former World #1 seems to be back to his almighty best, or at least close. Novak Djokovic has not enjoyed much success this year but he has been slowly playing himself into form and looks ready to peak at Roland Garros. Two wins in two weeks over Kei Nishikori showed us that the Serb is still a force but it was his straight sets loss to Nadal in Rome that showed us he is back. The match exhibited two greats of the game pushing each other to the limit before the King of Clay prevailed.
Let us not get ahead of ourselves though because we were in this exact position last year. In 2017, Djokovic appeared to be back to his best with a run to the final in Rome, however, he followed this up with a disappointing loss to Thiem where he did not demonstrate much fight. I am convinced this year is different and there is no reason why Djokovic cannot go all the way. Remember, he is one of only three past champions in the draw.
The Belgian has been quietly going about his business during the clay court season and many people seem to overlook his results. In his four events on the red dirt this year, Goffin has reached the quarterfinals in three of them (Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome). He has a game well suited to the clay and is a former quarter finalist at Roland Garros. Goffin may have been able to match or better this result last year had he not suffered a freak ankle injury in the third round.
The world #9 enjoyed a stellar 2017 season so he is clearly enjoying the best tennis of his career at the moment. He can also beat the best players on clay which is shown in his five victories over top ten players on this surface, including victories over Djokovic and Thiem. Write off the Belgian at your peril, he will look to turn many heads at the 2018 French Open.
Alexander Zverev has emerged as the main threat to Rafael Nadal's French Open crown in recent weeks as he bids to end Germany's 81-year wait for a men's singles title at Roland Garros. The 21-year-old suffered his fifth defeat in five meetings with Nadal in Sunday's Italian Open final, but the way he fought back from losing the first set 6-1 only enhanced his already-burgeoning clay-court credentials. The rising star has never reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, but he will be the second seed in Paris after winning his second Masters title on clay in Madrid, where he beat Nadal's conqueror Dominic Thiem in the final.
A run of 13 wins in a row was only ended by 10-time French Open winner Nadal on Sunday, and Zverev is looking to continue his momentum.
"I try to play the same way, play the same way over a longer period of time, which will be in Paris," he said.
"Right now, the next few days, I won't even think about tennis. And then I'll go to Paris and do my best to prepare and try to compete for the French Open.
"Of course, Rafa will be the favourite there, there's no question about it. I'll be in the other half of the draw. So, that's a good thing."
Before thrashing Thiem 6-0, 6-2 in Monte Carlo last month, Nadal said the Austrian was "probably one of the three best clay-court players on tour", but the last fortnight has shown that Zverev is potentially even more dangerous.
By stepping into the court and attacking Nadal's fearsome forehand with his double-handed backhand, Zverev turned the tide in the final at the Foro Italico, before the rains came and the Spaniard won five straight games to close out the matchThe last German man to lift La Coupe des Mousquetaires was Henner Henkel, who later died in World War II's Battle of Stalingrad, in 1937 under the flag of Nazi Germany.
That victory over Britain's Bunny Austin was the country's third in four years at the French Open after two previous titles for Gottfried von Cramm.
Few would have believed then that over 80 years on Germany would still be waiting for another men's champion, with Michael Stich coming closest in a four-set final defeat by Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1996.
Unlike Stich and six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, a three-time semi-finalist at Roland Garros, Zverev's best surface is clay.
The world number three's clinical win over Thiem in Madrid delivered his second Masters triumph on the red dirt, and he was possibly only a rain delay away from beating Nadal to add a third as he narrowly failed to defend the title in Rome.
"I kind of found the way, you know, felt like I had control over most of the points," said Zverev.It is impossible not to talk about the ‘King of Clay’ when discussing potential champions at Roland Garros given Nadal’s total domination of the tournament since his debut back in 2005. Last year he became the first player ever to claim a single grand slam title 10 times in Paris and he did so without dropping a set.
The warning signs are there for rest of the field as the 31-year old has already won on his favourite surface in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and last week in Rome, although he was upset by Dominic Thiem in the last eight at Madrid. A result that must give a glimmer of hope to anyone who has to face Nadal in Paris.
The Austrian is a bit of an enigma on the ATP. Brilliant one moment and unbelievably poor the next, his roller-coaster like form is best illustrated by two recent tournaments. In Barcelona he crashed out in the quarter-final to the unheralded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, yet two weeks later in Madrid he got all the way to the final, inflicting a famous defeat on Nadal along the way.
Long touted as one of the future stars of world tennis, the number eight ranked Thiem has all the attributes to reach the top but often flatters to deceive when the pressure is on. A semi-finalist in the last two years in Paris, clay is his favourite surface and definitely presents his best chance of success. If he can find a solution to his mental woes then a first grand slam is certainly not out of the question.
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