London: The intriguing, escalating rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer promises to dominate this year's fight for the French Open men's singles title.
The levelling effect of tennis's slowest surface means the claycourt grand slam provides the perfect context for the Spaniard and the Swiss to continue their duel for supremacy in men's tennis.
Nobody disputes that Federer, the world number one, is the world's best all-round player.
However on clay, where patience and stamina play a greater role than on other surfaces, he is still cast in the role of pretender.
Federer has won every grand slam title except the French Open, defending champion Nadal has won nothing else.
"For me just to hit and move backwards again, that's not the way I learned the game," the Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion said after his five-hour, five-set defeat by Nadal in the Rome Masters final this month.
"My way of thinking is come to the net and finish it at the net." Rushing to the net on clay amounts to tennis suicide, though, and Nadal has won all three of their claycourt meetings, including a semi-final win at Roland Garros last year.
In 2006 the bullish Mallorcan has developed a stranglehold over Federer, beating him in the finals of Dubai, Monte Carlo and Rome. The last two were on clay.
Victory for the Swiss would be triply sweet, however. It would end his jinx against Nadal, it would complete his collection of grand slam titles and it would make him only the third man to hold all four grand slam trophies at the same time.
Federer's hero Rod Laver was the last man to hold all four titles simultaneously. He did it in 1962 and 1969.
If Federer does win the French Open, he will also have completed the most difficult part of his bid to match Laver and Don Budge by winning all four grand slams in the same calendar year.
Nadal, though, will have plenty to say about it, even if for now he is happy to assume an air of modesty.
"He already has a place in the history of tennis," said the Spaniard, who will secure a piece himself if he wins his first round match to break Guillermo Vilas's professional-era record of 53 successive wins on clay.
"I played very well last year but if you look at the gap there is between us (in rankings points) it shows he's a very special player."
Spanish hopes do not rest solely with Nadal, even if the rest of the field appear to be playing for semi-final places.
Hamburg Masters winner Tommy Robredo and 20-year-old Nicolas Almagro, who won the claycourt Valencia title and took a set off Federer in Rome, both have the ability to upset the favourites.
With last year's runner-up Mariano Puerta serving an eight-year drugs ban and Guillermo Coria out of form, David Nalbandian and 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio appear to carry Argentina's best hopes.
Consistent Russian Nikolay Davydenko will need to prove he has the temperament to cope with the big occasion while American Andy Roddick's lack of claycourt guile means this remains the grand slam he is least likely to win.
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