Winning the French Open on debut is usually a far-fetched dream -- Rafael Nadal could end up being the first man in 23 years to achieve the feat when he walks through the gates of Roland Garros next week.
The Spanish teenager is favourite to emulate Mats Wilander's 1982 success after staking his claim for the Musketeers' Cup with five claycourt titles this season.
He will arrive in Paris on the back of a 17-match winning streak and, perhaps with the exception of world number one Roger Federer, will be the man everyone else in the 128-strong field will want to avoid.
"Because Nadal's a lefty, it changes so many things. His forehand is huge, he can hit winners off every forehand," Federer said recently.
"He moves totally different from most players. He's an outstanding athlete."
Unlike Federer, Nadal will not carry any Roland Garros baggage with him into the tournament and he will be raring to launch his first serious bid for a Grand Slam crown.
"I am going to enjoy myself. If I get to the final all the better but if I don't it won't be a tragedy," said Nadal, 18.
A blister on his left hand forced him out of the Hamburg event earlier this month but also gave him a two-week break to recuperate from the heroics which landed him two Masters Series titles.
In his absence, Federer reminded his rivals of his own claycourt pedigree by mopping up the title without dropping a set.
The win extended Federer's record of consecutive victories in finals to 19 and a 57-2 win/loss ratio dating back to last year's Athens Olympics.
DOWNWARD SLIDE
Astonishingly, Federer's winning run could have been even better as he held match points in both of his defeats, against Marat Safin in the Australian open semi-finals and Richard Gasquet in Monte Carlo.
For a man who has become accustomed to setting one record after, his French Open achievement to date is something of an anomaly.
Three first-round defeats in six visits barely seem befitting of a man who owns five claycourt awards among his 28 trophies.
Examine the statistics more closely and it appears that while his accomplishments at the other three Slams have drastically improved over the past three years, at Roland Garros it has been a downward slide.
He reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final in Paris in 2001 but since then his performances there have been forgettable.
"The toughest Grand Slam for me seems to be the French Open," the Swiss said after he suffered a third-round hammering by three-times former champion Gustavo Kuerten last year.
The world number one usually excels whenever he competes on the biggest stages of world tennis -- be it Wimbledon's famed Centre Court or the impressive Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park.
The Philippe Chatrier court at Roland Garros, however, does not hold such fond memories for the 23-year-old.
Having failed to win a match on the court before the 2004 tournament, he was once again intimidated by the surroundings during his straight-sets defeat by Kuerten.
"The Chatrier court is very, very big and I just don't have enough matchplay there," said Federer.
BREAK JINX
This year Federer arrived a week early in Paris to make himself feel at home and a former French Open champion believes the Swiss has the credentials to break his French jinx.
"He can win it, he's on another level to everyone," Spain's Sergi Bruguera, the 1993 and 1994 winner, said while competing on the Seniors' Tour.
"To only lose two matches since last August is, for me, unbelievable.
"Everything you do has to be 10 times better than the other players to do that, your mentality, your game, and everything has to be much better to achieve this.
"If he is so much better than everyone else, I think for sure he can win the French Open."
Champion Gaston Gaudio leads a quartet of Argentines who could upset the Nadal-Federer show.
Guillermo Coria held two match points in last year's final, only to be undone by his own lack of self-belief, while David Nalbandian came off second best to Gaudio in the semi-finals.
With Guillermo Canas ranked 10th in the world, the South American nation could once again be celebrating on June 5.
Add former champions Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Kuerten to the equation and it could be a long, hard tussle to the title.
