French Open '19: 3 possible heirs to Rafael Nadal's throne

Rafael Nadal needs little introduction, even to people new to the world of sports. The Spanish professional tennis player is currently ranked second on the ATP men's singles chart.

Nadal, at the age of 32, has 17 Grand Slam singles title under his belt and is only behind Roger Federer on the all-time list for Grand Slam titles. He has also won ATP Tour Masters titles 33 times, which is a record in itself.

He completed a career grand slam at the age of just 24, by winning the US Open title in 2010, and in doing so, became the second male player in the open era to achieve such a feat. Nadal has proved his world-class dominance on every surface, but his real legacy is the supremacy he has on the clay surface and because of which he is also known as the King of Clay.

Rafa has won 57 titles on the clay court, which is the most by any player in the open era including a record 11 French Open titles. And because of these accomplishments, Barcelona Open renamed the center court to Pista Rafa Nadal in 2017.

Injuries have occasionally halted the glorious career of Nadal, with 2014 to 2017 being the most profoundly affected. He lost a lot of matches and his rankings dropped, but it all came to an end with Nadal coming back to full fitness and finally winning a Grand Slam title after three years.

After winning two Grand Slam titles in 2017 out of three finals, another Ronald Garros win, along with reaching the semifinals in two occasions in 2018, it appeared as if vintage Nadal was back. His run to the finals at the Australian Open 2019 was a masterclass with all the victories coming in straight sets. But he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, as things didn't pan out the way he would have hoped.

The defeat was not a surprise as Djokovic's form in the last year made him the tournament favourite, but was a cause of concern was the ease with which Rafa was defeated; his first straight-set loss in a Grand Slam final.

BNP Paribas Open - Day 13

Injuries have derailed Nadal this current season, restricting him to only two final appearances in 2019, and his recent injury at Indian Wells Masters seems more alarming. And as the biggest tournament on a clay surface is on the horizon, the possibility of a title change is ever more promising.

So three contenders that are most likely to breach Nadal's empire at Roland Garros.

---

#3 Karen Khachanov

Karen Khachanov won Rolex Paris Masters 2018

The Russian is currently ranked 12th on the men's tennis ATP rankings. At the age of just 22, he has won four ATP singles titles.

Karen Khachanov has showed a lot of promise, but the promises have started delivering since the start of 2018. In February, he won his second ATP title, and in August, he made his first semifinal appearance at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Karen announced himself to the world in the US Open 2018 third round tie against Rafael Nadal where he played a marathon four-set match against the defending champion.

The performances were improving, but something unexpected was just around the corner. In November, he went on to win his first ATP Masters 1000 tournament at Rolex Paris Masters. Winning the title was a huge achievement, but his path to glory was an even more fascinating one. He defeated John Isner, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, and finally Novak Djokovic on his way to winning the title.

Djokovic was hugely impressed by the Russians performance and later on praised Khachanov for the title victory.

" I want to talk about how well he played all week. He absolutely deserved to win the match today. So all the credit to him, he deserves it. He’s a young player, up and coming, but already an established player, a top player. And he showed great quality today and he showed why we’re going to see a lot of him in the future."

#2 Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev won the ATP Finals 2018

The 6 feet 6-inch German professional tennis player, at the tender age of 21, is the world number three on the ATP men's singles chart.

Alexander Zverev has won 10 ATP singles titles and two doubles titles. He has also won the ATP finals last year defeating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the path to glory.

His career has had a lot of ups and downs such that many believed that he is not consistent enough to become a top player but the big three-Federer, Nadal and Djokovic has praised Zverev and reckoned him as one of the best in the future.

In 2017, Nadal told reporters after the five-set victory over Zverev in Australian Open.

, "He is the future of our sport and the present too."

Federer praised Zverev after defeating him in the group round tie in 2017 ATP finals,

"What I like about Zverev is he's got the full package, He's already third in the world. I think he's going to leave the World Tour Finals, regardless if he qualifies for the semis or not, with a lot of information. I think the last six months of the season gave him everything he needs to work forward to. Then, of course, he's only going to get stronger from here. That should be very encouraging for him and his team."

Djokovic applauded Alexanders's 2018 ATP finals title victory,

" There's a lot of similarities in terms of the trajectory of professional tennis, in our careers. Hopefully, he can surpass me. I sincerely wish him that. He seems like someone that is very dedicated. Without a doubt, he's a really nice person, someone that gets along very well with everyone. He deserves everything he gets so far. There's a lot of time ahead of him. I wish him to stay healthy and obviously win a lot of titles. Of course, he won a huge tournament, but he always had the quality to win a Slam. There's no doubt he will be one of the favorites at every Slam."

Apart from winning in London in 2018, he doesn't have a lot of achievements to showcase his can upstage the big three off their perch but he is still very young and an upset at Roland Garros could be on the cards.

#1 Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem won Indian Wells Masters 2018

The 25-year-old professional tennis player from Austria is currently ranked fifth in the world and is one of the favorites to win this year's French Open.

Thiem's overall tennis career statistics does not exactly make him a world beater, but he is a different entity on clay. Not only has he won eight out of his 12 ATP titles on clay, but his only Grand Slam final appearance came at French Open last year.

Thiem has struggled to perform at the very best on other surfaces and only managed to reach quarterfinals at any other Grand Slam despite consistently playing great tennis in the French Open for the past three years. Two semi-final appearances in 2016 and 2017 were followed by reaching the final stage in 2018. And his recent Indian Wells Masters title triumph only strengthens his title chances at Roland Garros.

The big three of men's tennis also recognized his real potential and also commended him for the talent he owns.

In 2016, Djokovic praised Thiem after their pre-quarterfinal tie at Miami Masters,

"Dominic is one of the leaders of this generation, no question doubt about it. He’s already established himself as a Top 20 player the last couple years. He’s getting stronger and more confident.”

Nadal reacted to his five set win over Thiem in the quarterfinals of US Open 2018,

"Sorry for him. He’s a tough guy. He’s one of the best guys on tour. He always plays with — plays and practices with a great attitude and sad for him because when arrives this moment, he did all the things well to win the match. Me too, I think. I fight until the end, so it’s always was question of a little bit of luck at the end.”

The Indian Wells Masters 2019 ended with Federer being on the losing side and he then applauded Thiem's victory,

"It’s been a great week for me even though it didn’t work out. But what a week Dominic has had, many congratulations to him. Wonderful playing throughout the week. He deserves it.”

French Open 2019 will commence on May 20, and only time will tell if Nadal's supremacy at Roland Garros will have an extra page to it or if there will be a new prince.