Djokovic Hopes Run Continues at French Open
VOA - Kelyn Soong | Washington May 20, 2011
The second Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2011, the French Open, begins Monday in Paris. Much of the attention will be on Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who is a remarkable 37-0 this year and is looking to dethrone defending champion and five-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal of Spain.
In recent years, nine-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal of Spain has been virtually unbeatable on clay, with only eight losses in his past 201 matches on the surface. In fact, one of his nicknames is “King of Clay.”
However, this season has been owned by another player, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who is undefeated on all surfaces. The 23-year-old Serb has moved up to number-two in the world rankings and enters the French Open with the best start to a year since American John McEnroe began the 1984 season 42-0. Although for world number one Nadal - who has lost to Djokovic in two consecutive clay court tournament finals - the true test of a champion is winning on the big stages.
