The fantastic four

The Spaniard made much of his early tournament struggles but, apart from the scare from John Isner in the first round, his lack of form was much exaggerated. Andy Murray, too, claimed he had not played well until meeting Nadal but he beat two players, including the world No.15, on one leg.

Until Juan Martin del Potro regains championship fitness and form, the run-up to the immediate grand slam tournaments will inevitably be concerned with the top four. There is no viable contender outside this quartet.

Robin Soderling may enjoy a good Wimbledon but one could only envisage him springing one surprise instead of the three he may need to win? The others, frankly, do not survive even casual scrutiny.

The top four, too, have taken the game to another level. It was breathtaking watching the two semi-finals and the final. They hummed with pace, technique and energy.

Murray, who lost in straight sets to Nadal, is the outsider of the four. He has not won a grand slam and is condemned to answer awkward questions until he does. His tournament was encouraging, though. This was his best performance in Paris and he should have taken a set from Nadal. This may seem a small consolation but it constitutes a genuine rise in level.

He now attempts, at least, to reach another semi-final at Wimbledon where he will almost certainly meet one of the men ranked above him. So how do the top three stand?

Djokovic will be the most disappointed with his Paris foray. The semi-final with Federer was the best match of the tournament, outstripping the final simply because of its continuous pace and its fascinating unpredictability.

The Serb, of course, can be forgiven one defeat after a season-long run of 41 unbeaten matches but he will be dismayed at failing to outgun Federer and giving himself a tilt at his first French title.

Wimbledon, too, has never been Djokovic’s most favoured arena. He has come up short in the past, most disconsolately against Tomas Berdych last year. He now needs to recuperate, regroup and prepare for a sustained challenge. He knows that anything less than his first final in SW19 will be considered a failure.

The perennial double act of Roger and Rafa will advance on Wimbledon with renewed hope. Federer was eventually outmuscled by Nadal at Roland Garros but he will believe that his favourite surface of grass can give him the edge.

The winner of 16 grand slams certainly looks revitalised. His victory over Djokovic was stunning, showing the Swiss player’s fitness is at a high level. His shot-making was devastating. One flicked backhand down the line off what seemed a Djokovic winner was the shot of the tournament.

However, Federer increasingly is taking second prizes when meeting Nadal. He protests that these matches are shoot-outs that can go either way. It is the Swiss player, though, who lies bleeding at the end of the day.

Nadal remains the man to beat. He indulged in uncharacteristic bouts of introspection at Roland Garros and there was evidence in his post-victory press conference that the advance of Djokovic had rattled him.

His response to defeats on the clay of Madrid and Rome was simply to improve. He stepped up his practice, worked on his serve and came to Paris a little short on belief but long on desire.

On Sunday night, he spoke of the joy that tennis gave him. This came not with the grand slam victories, though he loved each and one of the 10 he has seized. His satisfaction, though, was a product rather of seeing his hard work come to fruition.

Nadal is a personality who loves testing himself in training, in the gym and then, ultimately, on the centre courts. This drive has pushed the other three top players to reflect on their games in an attempt to catch him. Wimbledon will be the test.

The cramming starts now.