From the breakthrough Slam to nearly unbreakable: Rafa's Paris script

The dominance of tennis’ Big 3—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic—in Grand Slam tournaments has been a spellbinding screenplay for nearly a decade. But at the French Open, one player has been scripting a predominantly predictable series for even longer.

Throughout Open Era tennis, the French Open has been regarded as the Slam of breakthroughs. Paris often afforded players the chance to trade in supporting roles for an audition to land the headlining hero. From all-time greats like Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl, to clay-court connoisseurs Guillermo Vilas and Gustavo Kuerten, to one-Slam wonders Yannick Noah and Gaston Gaudio, Roland Garros embraced diversity in the portrayal of its male champion character.

When Nadal lifted his first Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2005, he became the 21st man out of 49 to clinch his maiden major at Roland Garros. At that point in time, the French Open accounted for 42.86% of the ATP’s first-time major champions. The next closest, the US Open, owned less than half that number, with 20.41% (10 players), followed by the Australian Open and Wimbledon with 18.37% each (9 players).

Since 2005, the French Open story viewers tune in for has been executively produced by Nadal—with eleven titles in 14 years, a pristine 11-0 record in championship matches and just two defeats along the way. Federer, Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka each delivered memorable performances to grab the spotlight at one point during the show, but for the majority of screen time, it's shone exclusively on Nadal.

If you remove the Spaniard from the director’s chair, Federer and Djokovic each have a compelling case for numerous additions to their major tallies: they are a combined 1-11 at the event against Nadal, including an 0-6 mark in title matches. But arguably everyone Nadal has taken out during the second week in Paris has a valid claim, as the tale of the tape points to another distinctive narrative the 11-time champion cut in the editing room.

On four occasions, Roland Garros sustained runs of at least three consecutive breakthrough winners, and it never took more than five years for history to repeat itself: 1982-84 (Mats Wilander, Noah and Lendl); 1989-91 (Michael Chang, Andres Gomez and Jim Courier); 1995-98 (Thomas Muster, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Kuerten and Carlos Moya); and 2002-05 (Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gaudio and Nadal). The only other time this happened at a major was at the Australian Open, in 1976 (Mark Edmundson), January 1977 (Roscoe Tanner) and December 1977 (Vitas Gerulaitis).

Nadal’s retired countrymen David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro have two of the strongest petitions, especially Ferrer, who hung up his racquet in Madrid this month. The former world No. 3 bowed out to Nadal four times in the quarterfinal stage or later at Roland Garros, including the 2013 final. Almagro was sent packing by the left-hander in quarterfinals three times over a five-year period from 2008-2012.

With this season marking 14 years since Nadal piloted his first of an 11-episode series, audiences await in anticipation on whether he is renewed, Djokovic or Federer is rebooted, or an evolving project like Dominic Thiem is green-lit.

Note: Through 2005 Roland Garros, the French Open also led women’s breakthrough winners with 38.71% (12 of 31 players). The Australian Open was second at 22.58% (7 players), with Wimbledon and the US Open tying with 19.35% (6 players). The French Open has since held the pole position with six of the past 17 first-time major titlists, just ahead of the US Open, which features five.