When he steps onto the famous clay of Roland Garros in the third week in May, tennis’ Rafael Nadal will look to conquer Paris for the fifth consecutive year. If the premiere clay court player in the world continues his winning streak – which seems likely with his 141-4 tournament record on the tricky surface since 2005 – Nadal will be one win behind Bjorn Borg’s all-time French Open record.

But it won’t be easy, and even though he is the world’s top-ranked men’s player, Nadal cites his own perceived deficiencies on other surfaces as a reason Scottish player Andy Murray could come away the winner in Paris. “If you are good player, you are good player on any surface, no? Everybody talked about my game not being suited to grass, and I have been in three finals,” Nadal told The Guardian, underselling his Wimbledon win last summer.

“Andy’s an amazing player. He has this ability, when he needs, to raise his game to a different level, and he is improving that level everywhere.”

Murray made a memorable trip to the finals of the U.S. Open in 2008, but the experience and guile of Roger Federer was too much for him to overcome. Could this be the 21-year-old Murray’s first Grand Slam? Or will Nadal hold serve for a fifth straight year, putting him one step close to tennis history?

The French Open gets underway on May 24th.

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