If there ever was any doubt as to who should be the favourite going into Roland Garros, Federer’s sub-par performance in Rome confirms that its Nadal. He might be the #3 seed in Paris, but his clay court history has to rate him as the best ever.
Having won his first Roland Garros crown last summer and picked up three of the past four grand slam titles, Federer might be entitled to go into Paris as top dog. But the manner in which Nadal won his sixth straight Monte Carlo title nine days ago has thrust the Spaniard back to the top of the tree, at least on clay.
Rafael Nadal avoided the same fate which befell Roger Federer as he strolled through a potentially tricky Rome Masters second-round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber.
World number one Federer was subjected to a humbling 2-6 6-1 7-5 defeat by Ernests Gulbis yesterday, but Nadal was quick out of the blocks today and never looked back in a 6-1 6-3 win over the hard-working German.
Federer, never one to shy away from mind games, was first off the mark. “The guy’s been on an absolute tear on clay for pretty much five years, he’s lost just one match at the French Open and I think he’s still the favourite,” Federer said.
“I’d love to say that I am the favourite but I don’t think that’s right. He has not lost to anyone outside of potential top five or top 10 players on clay, although there are definitely guys that can play well against him.”
Nadal’s response was to blow out his cheeks and assert that it was far too early to talk about Paris.
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