Shark Bites

© Getty ImagesNovak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal enter Roland Garros in a three-way way battle for the World No. 1 ranking.

ATP stats and information guru Greg Sharko looks at the numbers behind the stories of the ATP World Tour.

THREE-WAY BATTLE FOR NO. 1 – The top three players in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings will be battling for the second Grand Slam title of the season at Roland Garros.

In addition, the trio will have their eyes on the No. 1 ranking, which defending champion Roger Federer currently holds. Federer will have to hold off No. 2 and four-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who also has a chance to take over the top spot for the first time.

In order for Federer to hold on to the top ranking and tie Pete Sampras' all-time record of 286 weeks at No. 1, the Swiss native must at least reach the semi-finals - that would see Federer stay No. 1 even if Nadal wins the title.

Here are the scenarios based on the points table below:
- Federer will remain No. 1 if he reaches the semi-finals but anything less and Nadal wins the title, then the Spaniard regains No. 1.
- Nadal must win the title and have Federer lose before the semi-finals to take over No. 1.
- Djokovic must win the title and have Federer lose before the quarter-finals.

CLAY COURT DOMINATOR – Here's a year-by-year look at Nadal’s clay court dominance since 2005, compiling a 169-6 match record and 27-2 mark in clay court finals on the ATP World Tour. For six straight years he's won three European clay court titles leading into Paris:

* Overall he is 196-16 (.925) in his career on clay, the best winning pct. on clay in the Open Era

OPEN ERA CLAY COURT TITLE LEADERS – Nadal is tied for fifth place with Ivan Lendl and Ilie Nastase in the Open Era clay court titles leaders list:

FEDERER GRAND SLAM KING – World No. 1 Roger Federer is trying to extend two incredible Grand Slam streaks as he goes into Roland Garros. The 28-year-old Swiss superstar has advanced to the semi-finals in a record 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. After losing in the third round to Gustavo Kuerten at Roland Garros in 2004, Federer began his streak at Wimbledon that year. In addition, Federer has reached the final in 18 of the past 19 Grand Slam tournaments (except ’08 Aust. Open, l. in SFs) going back to Wimbledon in 2005.

In addition, here are several other superlatives:
- He's reached the final at Roland Garros the past four years and the last time he didn't reach the final was in 2005 when he lost to Nadal in the semi-finals.
- He is 130-1 against players ranked outside the Top 5 in Grand Slam play since 2004 Wimbledon when he started his streak of 23 Grand Slam semi-finals or better…His only loss during that span came to No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro in last year’s US Open final.
- He’s the only player in men’s tennis to win at least 50 matches in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments (except RG with 39 wins)...If he reaches the semi-finals he will reach 200 career Grand Slam wins...Four players have won 200 or more matches (Connors, Agassi, Lendl, Sampras).

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