Keep up the hard work, Rafael Nadal, and maybe one day you'll be the fourth seed at the French Open.


Nadal polished off another clay-court tournament Sunday, winning the Madrid Open, and remains a favorite to win an eighth French Open title in June. (His seven titles are a record.) Unless he wins the Rome tournament that begins this week, though, he'll arrive in Paris as the No. 5 seed. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that adjusts its seeding; the other three Slams rely on the current world rankings.

Nadal missed much of last season, plus this year's Australian Open, because of a knee injury, so he still trails Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and countryman David Ferrer in the rankings. To pass Ferrer for No. 4, he needs to defend his title in Rome.

The Wall Street Journal

If Nadal fails, he'll be in a difficult position in Paris: To win the title, he might have to beat Murray, Federer and Djokovic in consecutive matches. No one has ever beaten three members of tennis's "Big Four"—Nadal and the three aforementioned players—at a Grand Slam tournament.

Yet it has been done elsewhere. In 2007, David Nalbandian won the Madrid title after beating Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in his final three matches. If Nadal does it in Paris, it would make title No. 8 the most impressive of them all.

—Tom Perrotta