It’s not such a bold pick from Becker, considering that Nadal has won eight of his first 10 matches in 2017 and reached the final of the Australian Open, falling just three games shy of his 15th major.
The Spaniard has also had unprecedented success in Paris, winning the French Open a record nine times. But the undisputed “King of Clay”—nobody has ever been better on that surface—hasn’t won the French Open since 2014. He looked brilliant during the clay season last year, winning titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, but a wrist injury forced him to pull out of Roland Garros ahead of this third-round match against Marcel Granollers. The year prior, he was ousted in the quarterfinals by Novak Djokovic.