Novak Djokovic - French Open Men's Tennis Players

Novak Djokovic's star is undoubtedly on the rise, and a meteoric one at that. The young Serb has been in dominant form since his maiden grand slam victory in Melbourne in January 2008, and he has proved to be more than comfortable on clay.

Since his first outings on the ATP circuit, he has won consistently on the clay surfaces of Europe, so the challenges of Roland Garros are certainly not insurmountable for the enthusiastic young man, known as the 'joker'. In fact his first victories in the ATP Challengers and Futures Series were all, bar one, on clay.

Djokovic has proved to be a giant killer, having added the prized scalp of world number one, Roger Federer, to his impressive collection of vanquished adversaries. He outclassed the Swiss Master for the second time in the semis of the 2008 Australian Open, and then went on to overpower rank outsider, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for his very first grand slam title.

Other notable opponents who fell to the pure power and skill of the young man are Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Richard Gasquet, Guillermo Canas, Mardy Fish, Stanislas Wawrinka and Chris Guccione.

Djokovic is currently ranked number three in the world, behind Nadal and Federer, largely due to his very productive 2007 season. He won a total of 78% of his matches including the Canada and Miami Masters.

His grand slam results were also most inspiring for a man who only started playing tennis professionally in 2004 - he reached the semis finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon and was runner-up at the US Open to his arch rival, and oft times conqueror, Roger Federer. Djokovic is, in fact, the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semi finals of all four grand slam events.

Djokovic has a playing style which suits all court surfaces, so is he well up on Roger Federer, who has battled on clay over the years, but he will, in all probability, have to contend with the clay court prowess of Rafael Nadal at some stage during the 2008 French Open.

He has met the 'King of Clay' nine times, and he trails Nadal 3-6, but what is vital is that Nadal has triumphed every time they have contested on clay, so if Novak Djokovic, French Open Men's Tennis Player, has any intention of increasing his grand slam record to two, he will have to produce some extreme tennis to down the irrevocable master of the clay courts.