Rafael Nadal is a strong favourite to defeat Roger Federer for the third straight year in Sunday's French Open final but he bristles when asked if he considers himself to be in that position.

"I don't feel I'm the favourite. I don't believe in favourites," he said.

"I think the favourite is the one who can hold the trophy tomorrow, and then the rest doesn't matter.

"Who's a favourite? Him? Me? I don't care.

"Favourite is the one who will play better on the court tomorrow, and the rest is just words and words. I don't think there can be any favourite in such a final."

What the 22-year-old Spaniard can't deny though is that the statistics are heavily weighted in his favour.

He has played Federer nine times on clay and won eight of them, including the last three years at Roland Garros. His only defeat to the world number 1 was at the Hamburg Masters Series final last year.

This year at Roland Garros he has powered into the final without dropping a set, a feat that only Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase had achieved before him in Paris.

Federer, on the other hand, has blown hot and cold and in particular looked less than convincing in his four sets semi-final win over unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Nadal said he had no idea of what kind of tactics the world number one might cook up with new coach Jose Higueras in an effort to pierce his steel-plated defences and said it all depended on who performed better on the day.

"Of course you sometimes have to adapt your game to your opponent - I will probably try and attack him on his backhand, play longer shots. But you don't want to be just focused on that, because that's also a means to lose a point," he said.

"Tennis, it's different from a team sport. It's an individual sport, and things are easier because you're alone on the court. There are not many things that you need to invent, because it's quite simple as a sport."

Turning to his own game, Nadal said that he had been disappointed with his form in his opener against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci (which he still won in straight sets) especially on his stronger forehand side.

"Little by little I managed to gain control over my forehand. As to my backhand, I think I improved it match after match," he said.

"For the rest I'm quite happy. I sometimes had to face difficult situations, especially on my serve. I'm quite good along the lines."

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AFP