by Barry Flatman , The Sunday Times

Perhaps it's down to the familiarity Nadal has with the mechanics of winning the French Open . Or the fact that nobody, save perhaps the most ardent supporters of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, believes there can be any outcome other than the man from Mallorca again hoisting the Coupe des Mousquetaires in two weeks' time.

The fact that winning here would make Nadal the first player in the history of the French championships to win five singles titles in a row - one more than Bjorn Borg and the legendary Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen - does not promote a trace of anxiety.

Some players, when walking near the entrance to the building that houses the world's Tennis media, might hurry past, eyes down. Not Nadal. He wanders by all smiles, happy to talk, joke and shake hands. "It is always a pleasure to be in this city," he says. "I'm happy to be here. Coming back is a special sensation."

Surely there must be a trace of pressure, bearing in mind that Federer ended his winning run on clay a week ago in the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. "No," comes the reply. "My only pressure is to try to play good Tennis, try to play well, and later we will see what has happened.

"I was happy about my clay season. Winning Monte Carlo, Barcelona, and Rome, and playing the final in Madrid is almost a perfect clay-court season. And Roger. He was always there."

Is this a well-rehearsed fa?ade? Certainly those closest to Nadal, 22, would know best, particularly as he insists on remaining one of the lads in the Spanish corner of the players' lounge. Fernando Verdasco is his biggest threat among the group, not just because he is ranked eighth in the world but also due to the fact that the pair are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals. At the Australian Open they fought out a gargantuan semi-final battle that stretched to five hours and 14 minutes before Nadal won. In many ways it only added to Nadal's aura, particularly as he miraculously recovered his stamina and technique to beat Federer in the final.

However, Verdasco insists: "There is nobody in the men's locker room who says the result of Roland Garros is already decided. Rafa is the favourite but all of us will fight to stop him winning it again. It's tough for him because it is everyone against Rafa. Each time somebody plays him on clay they play that little bit harder because they want to be the one to end his run at the French Open.

"He is very relaxed, but of course he is under some pressure because he has won four times. Maybe it was tougher for him when he came back here after winning that first time. But one year he needs to lose at Roland Garros, he can't go on winning for ever."

Such optimism might sound misplaced after studying the following statistic. Nadal has never lost at Roland Garros and in all his best-of-fiveset matches on clay, his career record is 45-0.

Nevertheless Verdasco is convinced Nadal's invincibility is due to come to an end. "The plan to beat Rafa in five sets on clay is to play unbelievable Tennis and to be fitter than you have ever been before in your life," he said. "Other players are aware that this is the standard we must attain. You have to play more than 100% on every point, like he always does. And just to have a better day than him because he is just human like everyone else and he has days when he is not feeling so good.

"He has an unbelievable mentality but you need to take him on one of those bad days. The reason he is No 1 and such a great player on clay is because there are hardly any of these days, but the chance will come for one of us. I want it to be me on the court with him that day."

A week ago in Madrid there was a suggestion of Nadal's fallibilities. With less than 24 hours to recover from another marathon semi, this time against Djokovic, he was found physically wanting against Federer.

Watching transfixed was Ion Tiriac, one of the most worldly and experienced men in Tennis. He was only to willing to analyse the current state of Nadal's game as opposed to that of Federer.

Tiriac believes Nadal hits the ball "faster, not harder" than any other player. "On a Tennis court, Federer plays the piano; Nadal plays drums," he said. "But his hands on the drums are much faster than Federer's on the piano." There are times the Tennis on Court Philippe Chatrier is worthy of symphonic backing. This year, as any other, Rafael Nadal is happy to march to the sound of his own tune.

The full French Open draw, p22

'' THERE IS NO PRESSURE ON ME OTHER THAN TO PLAY GOOD Tennis

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