his fellow lefthander Llodra in an ATP Tour level match. However in 2003, Nadal defeated
Llodra 7-6(7-3), 6-4 in a minor league level equivalent match in France.
Nadal, a five time French Open champion, has lost only one match ever in Paris. In 2009, the Spaniard suffering
from tendonitis in both of his knees, lost to Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-2, 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 7-6(7-2) in the fourth round.
Nadal has not dropped a clay court match since.
And last year while Nadal took grand slam titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, this year could see
a new number one crowned as Djokovic inches closer each month towards Nadal’s top ranking.
In January, Djokovic won the Australian Open before beating Nadal in the ATP Tour finals
at both Indian Wells and Miami. The Serbian has won five tournaments in a row this year including a clay
court tournament last week at Belgrade, Serbia.
In a potentially difficult quarterfinal match Friday, Djokovic meets the sixth seeded David Ferrer of
Spain. Head to head, Djokovic leads Ferrer 5-4; with Djokovic winning the duos’ last match last year
on a Beijing hard-court 6-2, 6-4. However head to head on clay, Ferrer leads Djokovic 3-0.
Ferrer won a clay court tournament in February at Acapulco before losing last month in the finals
of both Monte Carlo and Barcelona to Nadal.
Seeded number one and number two, Nadal and Djokovic could only face off in Sunday’s final.
