A step away from Borg

With five French Opens so far,Nadal in line to match Swedes title record

What once seemed a foregone conclusion that Rafael Nadal would match Bjorn Borg by winning his sixth French Open this year now looks more like a tennis thriller in the making thanks to the rise and prodigious efforts of Novak Djokovic. But in historical terms,Djokovic,unbeaten in 2011 and 4-0 against Nadal,remains a late-arriving interloper in this clay duel across decades.

Nadal with his racquet-wrenching topspin was drawing comparisons to Borg even before he had played a single match at the French Open.

He is now 38-1 at Roland Garros and has piled up five titles in six years,putting himself within one more dusty run of tying Borgs mens record for the tournament,which began in 1925. But what a tough run it may turn out to be if Djokovic keeps ripping backhand winners crosscourt off Nadals trademark forehands and refusing to miss.

I wish Rafa the best of luck. It would be great to see him win the sixth time or seven or eight times, Borg,now 54,said. I believe he has more French Opens inside of him,but now he has another difficult guy,another kind of challenge.

But it is on clay that Nadal,like Borg,has done his most overpowering work. Nadal has won 31 of his 45 career titles on clay; Borg 30 of his 63. They are a study in contrasts and commonalities. Nadal is an exuberant,injury-prone lefty from the Spanish island of Mallorca who sweats plenty and covers the court like an action film star. Borg was a cool,poker-faced right-hander from Sweden who – rather like Roger Federer – moved more elegantly than menacingly to the ball.

Bjorn was the same kind of physical dominator as Rafa has been in a very different way, said Harold Solomon,the 1976 French Open finalist from the United States,who was 0-15 head-to-head against Borg. Bjorn floated on the court,just floated.

Borg wielded a small-headed wooden racquet strung so tightly at around 80 pounds that his gut strings used to break during the night in his hotel rooms. Nadal uses one with titanium in the frame and synthetic string that only accentuates the intense spin.

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Now for the commonalities: father figures for coaches,game-changing racquet-head speed with their dominant topspin forehands,sturdy two-handed backhands,superb passing shots,underrated serves,fine touch in transition,endurance and a relentless commitment to play each point with the same focus regardless of the score.

That along with their precocious breakthroughs and relatively short careers (Nadal turns 25 during the French Open) help explain why they have the best career winning percentages of any men in the Open era. Borg,for now,has the slightest of edges: 82.7 percent with a 608-127 record to Nadals 82.6 percent with a 508-107 record.

On clay Nadal is comfortably in front with a winning percentage of 92.4 and a 220-18 record to Borgs 86.2 percent and 245-39 record. Borg and I practiced one day at the French after we both won our first rounds, Jose Higueras,a former Spanish player said. I asked him who he played now,and he said,I dont know. I dont look before the quarters.

Borg did have his nemesis at Roland Garros. The only man to beat him there was Adriano Panatta,the swashbuckling Italian who beat Borg in the fourth round in his 1973 debut and again in the quarterfinals in 1976. For now,Nadal has lost to just one man,too: Robin Soderling.

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But this year Nadal has to worry about another man. Borg,who has watched Djokovic beat Nadal in their four matches this year,believes the two will also face off in the final at Roland Garros and has made plans to come for the semis and final.Christopher Clarey