Henin, Nadal target French Open three-peat
There could be a three-peat winner on both the men’s and women’s side as Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin both begin their search for a third straight French Open title at Roland Garros this weekend.
Nadal has shown his mastery on clay by winning the last two French Open crowns. In 2005 Nadal defeated Mariano Puerta 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 in the final, while last year h
e knocked off his rival Roger Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 in the final. Once again it looks like it could come down to a Nadal/Federer final.
If last week’s Hamburg Masters final means anything, this could finally be Federer’s year.
In his incredible career Federer has won 10 Grand Slam titles, but none of them have been the French Open.
Despite being considered one of, if not the best tennis players of all-time, Federer will be lumped in with other greats like Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors who failed to conquer the French unless he finally prevails on the red clay of Roland Garros.
Federer had been going through a recent title drought until last weekend when he defeated Nadal in the Hamburg Masters final. What makes that win even more important is that it came on clay and snapped Nadal’s 81-match consecutive clay-court winning streak.
If Federer can find a way to repeat that win in France, he will bolster his career resume with an impressive addition.
On the women’s side Justine Henin will be looking for her third straight French Open title and fourth in five years. Two years ago Henin defeated Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 in the final and she took care of Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4 in last year’s final.
Henin is easily the favorite to win in Paris again simply due to her history both at Roland Garros and on clay generally. Henin has had to deal with some health problems during the 2007 tennis season and personal problems forced to her to miss the Aussie Open, but she appears to be healthy and ready to compete in France.
Check out Roger Federer’s Odds to win 2007 Wimbledon Tennis Championship at OddsHQ.com.
Tags: French Open, Rafael Nadal
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