Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is favorite to win the 2018 French Open. In this picture, Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli during their men's singles first round match on day three of the Roland Garros 2018 French Open tennis tournament in Paris, May 29, 2018. CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images

Rafael Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya sent out a stern warning to the Spaniard about three players that could beat him at the French Open — the final tournament of the 2018 clay court season.

The 31-year-old won three tournaments — the Monte Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open and the Italian Open — on his favorite surface and is leading the charge to capture his 11th French Open title.

Nadal has been placed as the outright favorite to win the title at Roland Garros with very few going against the odds to suggest that he will not win the title in 2018. The Spaniard dominated the clay court season yet again winning three of the four tournaments he entered prior to his arrival in Paris.

But Moya, who is Nadal’s head coach, has warned his player about Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev. He believes the three players have what it takes to beat the 10-time French Open winner on the red dirt.

The Serbian has been Nadal’s biggest nemesis on clay in the years gone by having beaten him on seven occasions — more than any other player. He is the only one who has beaten the Spaniard at his best on his favorite surface.

Thiem, on the other hand, is a more recent challenge that has come in front of Nadal. The Austrian is the only player to have tasted victory over the Spaniard on clay in the last 18 months with his most recent win coming in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open in May.

Zverev is yet to beat Nadal on clay or any other surface, but came close to achieving it during the final of the Italian Open. He eventually lost in three sets, but was close to victory having led 3-2 on serve in the final set.

However, Nadal can only meet one of them in the French Open and that will be in the final as the trio are all in the bottom-half of the draw.

“(Novak) Djokovic is one of the greatest in history and was a player able to win against Rafa at his best on clay so you have to be very careful with him,” Moya told La Razon, as quoted by Tennis World USA.

“(Dominic) Thiem won him thrice on clay in the last three years. No one suits to this surface like him and he is one of the last specialists on clay. If he in these conditions, at 100 per cent, and is on a good day he is able to beat Rafa. And (Alexander) Zverev is a player that is improving and can play well in all the aspects,” he added.

Nadal progressed to the second round of the 2018 French Open with a win over Simone Bolelli and will next face Guido Pella for a place in the third round on Thursday. Moya revealed that he wants the world number one to be more aggressive in his game.

The former world number one also revealed that he has to remind Nadal that he is not young anymore and admitted the Spaniard has evolved over the years.

“What I try is that Rafa gets more aggressive. And he is aware that his current body is not the same as when he was 20 years old and he knows it, he realizes is and tries to remember it. He, being the world No. 1 now and having been it for ten or eight years, was able to understand it and evolve,” Moya added.

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