The Streak

French Open

Considering Djokovic is on a 39 match win streak, I was surprised to see that Nadal is still favourite with the bookies for the French Open.
Prior to this year, he had never beaten Nadal on clay, now he has done it twice (Madrid & Rome finals). The question is whether he can do it over five sets.

In the past, some commentators have (harshly) has questioned his attitude due to several high profile retirements, eg Wimbledon 2007 semi v Nadal, with foot blisters (though his previous two rounds were five & four hour matches respectively v Baghdatis & Hewitt ) & 2009 Aus Open (v Roddick) with heat exhaustion. Clearly there’s nothing wrong with the mental side of his game now. Serbia’s Davis Cup victory in December has been the catalyst for this amazing run which has pushed Federer down to no. 3 in the rankings
I think the Djoker can stay unbeaten until the grasscout season, surpassing Vilas’ record (46 straight wins) in the process.

Sharapova has returned to her best form recently, achieving her best ever result on clay in winning Rome, & is back in the top ten. Wozniacki will again be trying to justify her no. 1 ranking by breaking her duck at the majors, but for me Clijsters is still favourite to win her first title at Roland Garros.

Champions League Final

This year sees a dream final, between the two teams who have been consistently the best two club sides in the world over the last four years or so. The Reds play their 3rd final in four years, Barca’s sequence since 2008 reads semi, final, semi, final. Man U are domestic champs for the 4th time in five years, & Barca completed a league threepeat this year. Hopefully Barcelona will not repeat the diving & histrionics which marred their semi with Madrid; & instead showcase their ability as the undisputed masters of the possession game. If Man U can cut off the supply to Leo Messi, they still have to cope with Villa, Iniesta, Xavi …
Barca to win 2-1.