French Open 2010: Can Federer Win the 2010 French Open

With a French Open trophy under his belt, the world's greatest tennis player, Roger Federer, will no doubt breathe easier while going into this year's French Open. Will this relaxed state of mind help him win another? This remains to be seen, for a while Federer is not playing his best tennis, his nemesis, Rafael Nadal, is as usual playing his best clay court tennis in recent times. Federer, however, is notorious for concentrating more on Grand Slams, and less on the other tournaments, and his record over the past few years shows how successful he is at that.

After winning the 2009 French Open, albeit without defeating Rafa, many think and hope that he can win another title here. Whether he can or not remains to be seen, but if he wants to, he will have to play the best tennis of his life, considering the draw he has got. Federer faces stiff competition, and in the quarterfinal will most likely play Robin Soldering, who last year handed Rafael Nadal his only loss in the French Open in the last 5 years. Interestingly, Roger Federer has lost only to Rafa in the last five years: in the 2005 semi final, and the 2006, 2007, and 2008 finals. What this shows is that Roger Federer is not someone to be taken lightly just because he loses in the final to Nadal. In the last five years, Federer has consistently beaten everyone to reach the semi-final or the final, and in 2009 he even won the event. With the confidence of the 2009 victory behind him, this year may prove to be different and he may end up beating Rafael Nadal to take the trophy.

Federer, as usual, is optimistic about his chances, and says that the fact he has lost here to Nadal so many times does not affect him. When asked if he would like to face Nadal in the finals, Federer replied that there were 126 other players who would be looking to prevent such a rematch. In an interview, Federer said,"If anything, I feel a little less pressure because I've proven it to myself - and maybe to many other people. I feel like I'm entering the tournament in the right spirit." We can only hope that Federer and Nadal, both reach the finals and continue to be one of the best rivalries in sport.

So, in conclusion, Roger Federer has shown that he indeed possesses the game required to win in France. Though it has taken him more than 10 attempts to win a title here, and though it is by all means his worst surface as far as victories go, the world number one has a French Open title under his belt. And this is more important that it seems, and will definitely boost his confidence this year. So, can the French Open 2010 defending champion successfully defend his title? The millions of Federer supporters will certainly hope so, and though the going is tough for him, Federer has proven time and again that he is the stuff champions are made of.