2013 FRENCH OPEN: Men's Final Preview

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs David Ferrer (ESP) [4]

The 2013 French Open men's final between 7-time champion Rafael Nadal and first-time finalist David Ferrer may be an even bigger mismatch than the women's final won convincingly by Serena Williams 6-4 6-4 over Maria Sharapova the day before. At least Sharapova was the defending champion and a 4-time major winner in her own right. This is Ferrer's first ever major final, and Nadal's 16th major final (11-4 record). He has only ever lost once at Roland Garros in 59 matches played. And he sports a 19-4 career head-to-head record against Ferrer, including a staggering 16-1 advantage on clay and a 7-0 lead in tournament finals. Ferrer has been playing excellent tennis so far, and has not lost as set in the tournament, but he really is just happy to be in his first major final, and I doubt even he really believes he can win this match.

To say that Ferrer has no chance is to overstate things, because there is always some chance of victory, but really Nadal won the tournament when he outlasted Novak Djokovic in the semifinal (it was 4 hours and 37 minutes long and went to 9-7 in the 5th set), and he knows it.

Sunday will just be a coronation where the King of Clay will win his unprecedented 8th Roland Garros title and 12th major (1 US Open, 1 Australian Open, 2 Wimbledons).

MadProfessah's prediction: Nadal (in 3 sets).