Rafael Nadal's mandate at Roland Garros next week is simple. If he wants to keep the world's No. 1 ranking away from Novak Djokovic, all he has to do is win the French Open.
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Tennis.com reported Monday that the world's top two players will vie for the top spot during the second Grand Slam of the 2014 season.
If the two meet in the final, the winner is No. 1, tennis.com reports.
The two met in the finals of the Italian Open on Sunday, in which Djokovic defeated Nadal for the fourth time on clay in 17 meetings but also for the fourth time in a row, regardless of the surface.
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According to ATPWorldTour.com, Djokovic also will become No. 1 automatically if Nadal does not reach the semifinals, regardless of how far Djokovic advances in the tournament - a distinct possibility, considering the fact that Nadal already has lost three matches on clay this season for the first time in a decade.
Also, if Djokovic reaches the French Open quarterfinals, Nadal must win the tournament to stay No. 1.
Djokovic's unbelievable 2011 wrested the No. 1 ranking away from Nadal on July 4 of that year. Djokovic would remain atop the tennis world for 101 of the next 118 weeks, allowing a Roger Federer comeback in the summer of 2012.
Djokovic reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in November, 2012 and held on for another 48 before Nadal's resurgence took place in 2013. Nadal has sat with the No. 1 ranking since Oct. 7, 2013 and has been atop the rest of the competitors for 35 weeks.
Despite Nadal's sub-par performance through the clay season so far, he says he has gained confidence that he is playing better tennis entering the Grand Slam event he's won eight times.
"Two weeks ago, my chances to play well in Roland Garros were not very high," Nadal said. "But I will arrive now more encouraged. Each week of the clay season got better for me."
Djokovic, meanwhile, has shown no ill effects of a right wrist injury he suffered at the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters in Monaco.
''Luckily for me I played with no pain, increasing the level of my tennis," he said.
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