Nick Westby: Clay court king Nadal in way of Djokovic bid to eclipse McEnroe

Novak Djokovic’s start to the season has been so blistering that the duopoly of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer is set to be consigned to the history books.

The Serbian has won 37 straight matches in 2011, a sequence that puts him within six wins of beating the previous best start to a year set by John McEnroe in 1984.

Djokovic is also closing in on the longest winning streak in history, 46, set by Argentine Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

By his own admission, McEnroe’s run did not include a grand slam tournament with the Australian Open then being played at the end of the year, and not opening the calendar as it does in the present day.

Djokovic, who turned 24 yesterday, has won a grand slam title and four Masters crowns during his run.

Djokovic has always been a strong hard-court player – his victory over Andy Murray in the final in Melbourne in January was his second Australian title – but he is threatening to be invincible on clay as well.

Nadal may be the current king of clay, having won the French Open five of the last six years and nearly all the Masters titles on the dusty red surface.

But his defeats to Djokovic in Madrid and Rome have shown that he is fallible.

The once-invincible Federer, meanwhile, is finally showing signs of age. There has been no grand slam title since the Australian Open of 2010, and the French has never been a surface of choice for the 29-year-old Swiss master.

The most successful grand slam winner of all has a final flourish in him somewhere but that is likely to be at Wimbledon or Flushing Meadows, not in the stifling heat of a Parisian Spring.

As for Andy Murray, his career has gone in the opposite direction to Djokovic’s since the one-sided humbling he received in Melbourne.

Coaching turmoil, a crisis of confidence and very few appearances in the latter stages of tournaments; the leading light of British tennis has been hiding under a bushel.

That Australian final is looking more and more like a watershed moment for the immediate future of men’s tennis.

With Federer’s dominance on the wane after 16 grand slam titles, it was left to the world’s No 3 and No 5 (Murray had slipped a place in the ranking but had been at No 4 for a long time) to assume the mantle of the man to challenge the mercurial Spaniard Nadal.

Djokovic, emboldened by his part in Serbia’s Davis Cup victory at the end of 2010, seized the moment.

The fear is Murray may have missed his chance to take the step up to the next level.

So it is left to the world’s No 1 and No 2, Nadal and Djokovic, to do battle for French honours.

Nadal is already a winner of every grand slam and assured of his place among the game’s greats.

By continuing his run over the next fortnight, Djokovic can take a considerable step to joining such vaunted company.

Defeating Nadal in three-set finals in Madrid and Rome is a lot easier, though, than besting the clay court king on his favoured stage over five sets.

For, perhaps poetically, McEnroe twice defeated Ivan Lendl over three sets in the run-up to Roland Garros in 1984 before building a two-set lead against his Czech opponent only to lose the next three and see his run end on 42 matches at the French Open.

“His record is even more impressive than mine,” said McEnroe last week of Djokovic’s charge.

“There is more competition, more athleticism, deeper fields and more depth in the sport.

“Also in ’84 the Aussie Open was played at the end of the year so I hadn’t played a major when I put that run together. My first major was the French where the streak was broken.

“Certainly Novak has to be careful, though, because Nadal fights right to the end.”

The history books suggest the portents for Djokovic having a competitive French Open are good, if not ominous.

Only once in the last five years has he failed to reach the last eight, and he was beaten semi-finalist on two of those occasions.

Similarly at Wimbledon, he has been a beaten semi-finalist in two of the last four years.

Good runs in both mid-summer tournaments and he could return to his favoured hard court surface in September at the US Open

ready to claim another grand slam title and cement the world No 1 spot.

This could be a defining year for Djokovic.

How he responds to a defeat when one inevitably arrives will be pivotal, as will be the manner in which opponents now approach a man whose weaknesses are reducing as each tournament passes, an asset that is coupled by the devilish top-spin he puts on a fierce forehand groundstroke.

There are other capable contenders over the next fortnight; David Ferrer, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Jurgen Melzer, Gael Monfils to name but a few.

The women’s side of the draw will offer the intrigue of whether Caroline Wozniacki will continue to be the latest player to be burdened by the world No 1 tag in her quest for a maiden grand slam title.

But it is the men’s draw, and the chronicling of Djokovic’s bid to set new records and end Nadal’s long reign that will garner the most print space and interest this next fortnight.