Former Doubles Number One, Paul McNamee believes Nadal will still be favourite for French Open no matter what: "Even if Nadal went from a 22-match streak last year"

Former player Paul McNamee believes that Rafael Nadal is still the favourite to win Roland Garros despite strong clay players like Alcaraz and Ruud getting better.

One of the best young players on clay is Casper Ruud and he got a chance to take on Nadal at Roland Garros last year. It was not even close as Nadal won easily. Another great clay player is Carlos Alcaraz who actually defeated Nadal on clay before however, he's a totally different beast in Paris.

Those tow are often mentioned as the most likely to dethrone Nadal in Paris but McNamee still thinks Nadal is the one to beat:

"Will he win another slam? Perhaps not at three of the four majors but, for Nadal, there’s always the French Open. His record 14 titles, including 2022, is arguably the greatest single record in the history of sports. It’s up there with Michael Jordan’s double three-peat of NBA titles."

He added:

"For me, even if Nadal went from a 22-match streak last year to hardly winning a match in this new season, he would still go in as the favourite at Roland Garros."

The reason for McNamee is rather simple:

"On clay, there’s a maxim I subscribe to: “The best shot wins.” Well, in my opinion, the Nadal forehand is the single best shot in the history of tennis. Better than the Sampras or Federer serves, the Del Potro forehand or the Djokovic or Rosewall backhands. It’s handy when you go into every match, on every surface, knowing you have the best shot on the court."