French Open Preview

Although Novak Djokovic may have beaten Nadal 4 times in 2011 and twice on clay but old habits die hard and the bets are still heavier on Rafa.

The 2011 French Open takes place between May 17th and June 5th with the qualifying tournament taking up the first days of the event.

Rafael Nadal is the defending champion as he goes for his sixth title at the clay court Slam. Normally considered a 'lock' to win the event this year Nadal is a question mark almost entirely due to the play of Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic is undefeated in 2011 and while he's been exceptionally dangerous on the hard court surface for several years, this year Djokovic has proven himself on the clay courts. After beating Nadal in the Madrid Masters final over a week ago, Djokovic followed up the act with another straight sets victory in Rome over Rafa.

The owner of 7 titles this season alone, two more than sixth ranked Tomas Berdych has in his entire career, Djokovic has now won his fair share of backers for the French Open crown.

Nadal's and Djokovic's statuses as virtual co-favorites requires no further explanation but let's take a quick look at the other contenders.

Federer comes in as the third favorite as he is one of only three former champions in the field and he's made the final on multiple occasions. Last year however he lost in the quarters and so far this season he's done nothing to suggest that he's going to win the French Open.

The recent loss to Richard Gasquet and the tough win against Feliciano Lopez, if anything, suggest that Federer might be considered about 15 to 1 just to make the final in Roland Garros, let alone win it. He's too talented of a player to ever discount having already won 16 Grand Slam titles. However that experience and talent wasn't enough in the last calendar year of Slams as Fed hasn't seen a championship match in a major since beating Andy Murray at Melbourne Park 2010.

Murray enters the French Open having made the quarterfinals at Roland Garros just one time in his career (2009). The Slamless Scot has played Djokovic and Nadal tough in recent tournaments however and he's the type of player that can win this Slam if the draw opens up with shocking upsets.

Ferrer enters the French Open as a dangerous player however he's looked dangerous on clay before and not turned in a good result in Paris. Last year is a case in point as the Spaniard only made the third round at Roland Garros after playing well on clay for most of the early 2010 season.

Del Potro, a French Open semifinalist from 2009 and a proven Grand Slam winner, has been in and out of draws with injury problems lately. If he's in tip-top shape then he can play with anyone however that seems to be a big "if" with the 2009 US Open champion and that's all that can be said about him.

Robin Soderling looks set to decline in the rankings following the French Open as the two-time finalist has not done much lately on clay. It should be pointed out, however, that he did not look great during the 2010 clay court season prior to the French Open and he still made his second run to the final. Soderling, for example, lost to Olivier Rochus in the second round of the 2010 Rome Masters but the Swede still found his form at Roland Garros.

Soderling did beat both Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro in Rome last week before bumping into Djokovic. The Swede is a tough read heading into the tournament but don't be surprised if he proves unstoppable before bumping into either Djokovic or Nadal.