Can Man Of The Moment Novak Djokovic Dethrone The 'King Of Clay' This Summer?

Without question, the player of 2011 so far is Novak Djokovic.

The 23-year-old Serbian has a perfect 24-0 record, one Grand Slam (Australian Open), two Masters Series titles (Indian Wells & Miami) and, with his other win in Dubai, a total of four ATP Tour titles for the season. All too often the cause for concern about his temperament and winning mentality, no longer is the world No.2 considered as merely the Djoker.

Djokovic and Nadal: Set for a Summer of high-profile Clay Court encounters

However, with the arrival of the European clay court season comes the acid test for Djokovic (and the rest of the players on tour for that matter) as this part of the year has come to be the time for just one man. Rafael Nadal.

Nadal created records in 2010 by claiming all three clay court Masters Series titles (Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid) before landing a fifth French Open at Roland Garros. Already with 29 career wins on clay the Pearl Of Manacor, as Nadal is nicknamed, still only 24, will surely surpass Guillermo Vilas (45 titles) as the most successful clay-courter of all time. And the best? Quite possibly.

Nadal Odds-On To Tie Swedish Maestro

A best priced 8/15 to make it six wins in the French capital - a feat which would bring him level with the most successful player of the modern era, Bjorn Borg - the world No.1 is a clear favourite to win again. However, this year it looks as though his main adversary won't be Roger Federer, the rival who has pushed him hardest these past few years, but Novak Djokovic.

The problem for Nole is that to oust Nadal (who he recently beat in both finals in Indian Wells and Miami) this year's form player may well have to defeat the Spaniard for the first time on clay!

To date the pair have met 25 times in all on tour, with Nadal leading 16:9, but when it comes to dirt the record books offer little encouragement for Djokovic. His record is 0:9 against Rafa on clay.

Recent Winners Of Major Clay Titles
	Monte Carlo	Rome	Madrid	French Open
2010	Nadal	Nadal	Nadal	Nadal
2009	Nadal	Nadal	Federer	Federer
2008	Nadal	Djokovic	Nadal	Nadal
2007	Nadal	Nadal	Federer	Nadal
2006	Nadal	Nadal	Robredo	Nadal

Much will depend upon how these top two players, plus Federer of course, perform during the run-up to the French Open (which starts on May 22nd). The tour initially heads to Monte Carlo then Rome and finally Madrid for a trio of top quality clay events en route to Roland Garros.

And by the time we get there who knows .... Djokovic might still be unbeaten for the year!

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