* BIG 4 LEAD THE WAY – The Top 4 players in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings have dominated the first five and a-half months of the season, combining to win 11 titles going into Roland Garros. Top-ranked Rafael Nadal leads the way with an ATP World Tour-best five titles, including his sixth Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open and three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, along with two other finals. Nadal comes into Paris as the top seed and World No. 1 for the first time. No. 2 Roger Federer's lone title came last week at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid where he beat Nadal in the final. Federer also reached the final at the Australian Open, losing to Nadal in five sets. Federer is not the top seed in Paris for the first time since 2003. No. 3 Andy Murray enters Paris with three titles and off to a career-best 31-5 start. No. 4 Novak Djokovic, a winner of two ATP World Tour titles while reaching three straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals (Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome), has advanced to the semi-finals at Roland Garros the past two years. Here is a look at the Big 4 this season:
| Player | Age | 2009 Titles | 2009 W-L (on clay) | |
| 1 | Rafael Nadal | 22 | 5 – Australian Open, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome | 41-4 (19-1) |
| 2 | Roger Federer | 27 | 1 – Madrid | 26-6 (9-2) |
| 3 | Andy Murray | 22 | 3 – Doha, Rotterdam, Miami | 31-5 (5-3) |
| 4 | Novak Djokovic | 22* | 2 – Dubai, Belgrade | 37-11 (15-5) |
| * Start of tournament | ||||
| Bold indicates Grand Slam or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament | ||||
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* NEW LOOK TOP 10 -- There are six new faces in the Top 10 going into Roland Garros since last year's tournament and only one player, No. 6 Andy Roddick, has not changed his ranking. The group of new Top 10 players (with ranking going into last year's Roland Garros) are: No. 3 Andy Murray (No. 12 at '08 RG), No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (No. 68 at '08 RG), No. 7 Gilles Simon (No. 29 at '08 RG), No. 8 Fernando Verdasco (No. 23 at '08 RG), No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No. 11 at '08 RG) and No. 10 Gael Monfils (No. 59 at '08 RG). Note: Nikolay Davydenko, who was No. 10 on May 18, will drop out of the Top 10 going into Paris next week since his '08 title points from Poertschach drop off.
* NADAL-FEDERER DOMINATION -- Since Nadal won his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2005, he and Federer have combined to win 15 of past 16 Grand Slam tournaments (except '08 Australian Open - Djokovic). During that stretch, Federer has won nine Grand Slam titles and Nadal six.
* THE REIGNING CHAMP/WORLD NO. 1 -- Nadal enters his third straight Grand Slam tournament as the No. 1 player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. He reached the semi-finals at the US Open last year (l. to Murray) and on Feb. 1 earned his sixth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (d. Federer in five sets). The 22-year-old Spaniard (turns 23 on June 3) has compiled an outstanding 150-5 match record on clay since 2005 and in his career is 25-2 in clay court finals, losing twice to Federer. Nadal's streak of 33 consecutive match wins on clay ended with his loss to Federer in Madrid. It was his first loss on clay since falling to countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round in Rome on May 7, 2008. In addition, since the beginning of 2008 Monte Carlo (mid-April) when he won his first title of the season through his last tournament in Madrid, Nadal owns an overall match record of 101-9 with 13 titles. Here is a year-by-year breakdown of his clay court success:
W-L Titles Losses
2009 -- 19-1 3 Roger Federer, Madrid Final
2008 -- 24-1 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Rome 2nd Rd.
2007 -- 31-1 5 Roger Federer, Hamburg Final
2006 -- 26-0 4 ---
2005 -- 50-2 8 Gaston Gaudio, Buenos Aires QF; Igor Andreev, Valencia QF
* TOUGH TO BEAT IN FIVE – Nadal enters Roland Garros undefeated in his career (45-0) in best of five set matches on clay. In fact, he’s been extended to five sets only twice, defeating Guillermo Coria in the 2005 Rome final and Roger Federer in the 2006 Rome final (both 7-6 in the fifth).
* NADAL VS. BORG - Nadal is trying to become the first man to win the Roland Garros title five consecutive years. He and Bjorn Borg (1978-81) are the only players to capture the title four straight years. Nadal is 28-0 lifetime at Roland Garros and he has never been extended to a fifth set in Paris. Nadal did not drop a set en route to last year's title and over the past two years he's only lost one set. Nadal lost three sets in 2006 and 2007 title runs. Borg, who compiled a 49-2 career record in eight appearances in Paris, only lost five sets in his four-year title run.
* 11 LUCKY NUMBER? -- Federer is playing Roland Garros for the 11th time and he's trying to become the sixth player in men's tennis history to win all four Grand Slam titles in his career, the first since Andre Agassi in 1999. The others to accomplish the feat are: Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Rod Laver. Interestingly, Agassi won the Roland Garros title in his 11th attempt in Paris. Both Agassi and Federer came into their 11th Roland Garros with almost identical records. Agassi compiled a 31-10 match record and Federer 32-10.
* THE MISSING SLAM TITLE – At the moment Federer is on a list along with former greats who won three of the four except for Roland Garros: Arthur Ashe, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, John Newcombe, and Pete Sampras.
* JOINING THE GRAND SLAM TITLE CLUB – History indicates a player is likely to capture his first career Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. In the Open Era, 21 players have notched their first Grand Slam crown in Paris, more than any other Grand Slam tournament. Of the past 20 winners since 1989 when Michael Chang captured his first and only Slam title, 12 claimed their first Slam crown in Paris, including Nadal in 2005. In addition, since ’89, only four players (Nadal, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Yevgeny Kafelnikov) have won another different Grand Slam title other than Roland Garros.
* GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS IN FIELD – Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal is one of eight Grand Slam champions (accounting for 27 Grand Slam singles titles) in this year's main draw. Carlos Moya, the 1998 Roland Garros champion, is sidelined with a hip injury. Here are the active Grand Slam champions in the draw:
| Player | Age* | No. | Titles |
| Roger Federer | 27 | 13 | 2003-07 Wimbledon; 2004, ’06-07 Aust. Open; 2004-08 US Open |
| Rafael Nadal | 22 | 6 | 2005-08 Roland Garros; 2008 Wimbledon; 2009 Australian Open |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 27 | 2 | 2001 US Open; 2002 Wimbledon |
| Marat Safin | 29 | 2 | 2000 US Open; 2005 Australian Open |
| Novak Djokovic | 22 | 1 | 2008 Australian Open |
| Juan Carlos Ferrero | 29 | 1 | 2003 Roland Garros |
| Gaston Gaudio | 30 | 1 | 2004 Roland Garros |
| Andy Roddick | 26 | 1 | 2003 US Open |
| * Start of tournament | |||
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3738.ASP)
