Djokovic: Nadal clear French Open favourite

Rafael Nadal is the "number one favourite" for the French Open, according to Novak Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic believes Rafael Nadal is the clear favourite to win yet another French Open.

Nadal finally claimed his first title of the year on Sunday, crushing Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 in the Italian Open final.

The Spaniard is a record 11-time champion at Roland Garros and Djokovic feels Nadal will be hard to stop as he bids for three in a row in Paris.

"Nadal [is the] number one favourite, without a doubt," the Serbian told a news conference.

"And then everyone else."

Nadal secured his ninth Rome crown with an impressive performance against Djokovic, who was blown away early.

Djokovic was happy to push Nadal to a third set as he lamented some fatigue after his run to the final.

"I'm really glad I managed to get into the third set considering in the first set I was blown away from the court and obviously third set wasn't much different from the first," he said.

"But actually the first three or four games in the third set were quite close and maybe that's where I had a slight chance to build on the momentum that I had from winning the second set.

"I was running out of fuel a little bit, just kind of missed that half a step, especially on the backhand side, and he used it.

"He used it very well, he's been playing some terrific tennis throughout the entire week and he was just too strong."

The French Open begins on Sunday.