Djokovic, Nadal, Federer - top three men in showdown at this year's Roland Garros

Of the 128 men contending for the singles crown at this year's Roland Garros, three stand out.

Reuters/Montage RFI

Novak Djokovic

World number one Novak Djokovic needs the crown at Roland Garros to collect his sixth major and complete a career grand slam.

Since the Open era began in 1968 and professionals were allowed to compete without restrictions in the four grand slam tournaments, only André Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have claimed the titles at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

However 25-year-old Djokovic could eclipse them all by winning his fourth consecutive grand slam.

But he still has a way to go before surpassing Rod Laver who is the only man to have collected all four in the same year.

Djokovic enters the tournament at something of a disadvantage when compared to his brio of 2011.

Then he waltzed into Paris as master of the tennis universe. He was unbeaten in 37 matches during which he had collected seven titles.

More importantly he had beaten the clay court king Rafael Nadal for the first time on the surface in Madrid and had repeated the trick again in Rome.

However, his standing in 2012 can be regarded as diminished.

True, Djokovic retained his Austrian Open title after a gruelling six hour clash with Nadal.

But since then he’s only picked up the Miami Masters. Nadal beat him in the final at Monte Carlo and also in the showdown in Rome at the Italian Open.

The Serb says this year is all about the grand slams, the gold medal at the Olympics and the conservation of his status as world number one.

Having set such high standards in 2011, it would appear those goals are achievable for the boy from Belgrade.

The rankings say Djokovic is the man to beat. Those who’ve been frequenting Roland Garros for the past eight years know there’s a certain Spaniard with something to prove.

Rafael Nadal

During the four or so years in which Rafael Nadal was number two to Roger Federer’s world number one, the Spaniard adopted the simple strategy of saying “Roger is the best.” And then he’d promptly go and beat him.

The spiel worked a treat at Roland Garros where the Swiss has never overcome the Spaniard. Nadal just loves seeing Federer on the other side of the net in the final. Four of his six crowns have come at Federer’s expense. Three of them while Federer was world number one.

Nadal is much more circumspect in his utterings about Djokovic. There isn’t a generational gap between them and worse, the Serb seems better able to cope with Nadal’s all-action dynamic than Federer.

Last year Nadal lost in final after final to Djokovic, most notably at Wimbledon and the US Open.

The Australian Open in January continued the rot. To lose at Roland Garros where he has won six of the last seven titles would be a blow.

Federer saw Djokovic off in the semi-finals last year. And Nadal romped away with the Coupe des Mousquetaires to equal Bjorn Borg’s record of six crowns.

A seventh trophy would elevate him into a separate pantheon. It would also be his 11th grand slam title. Nadal, who turns 26 on 3 June, comes into the French purring about his physical fitness.

He certainly oozed his trademark flourishes during his straight sets destruction of Djokovic at the Italian Open at the start of May.

He’s also been carving out his own slices of history this season. When he took the Monte Carlo Masters in April for an eighth consecutive year, he became the first player in tennis history to do so.

If the ranking lists are respected and it is a Djokovic-Nadal final, they’ll be playing more than each other on 10 June.

Roger Federer

For a second year, the former head honcho of the circuit enters Roland Garros as the also-ran. He made the final in 2011 but he suffered again at the hands of Nadal.

The world number three will only become a favourite if Nadal and Djokovic should fall. Though he’s in great physical shape and is still capable of sublime slashes of his racquet, Federer is no longer viewed as a viable contender for a trophy that he won in 2009.

That victory came after Nadal was eliminated and before the Djokovic ascendance.

The Paris crowd adore Federer for the purity of his aesthetic but even the most ardent among them will be surprised if his name is engraved on the trophy on 10 June.