Nadal and Djokovic: Who Has The Winning Hand?

Which player is most likely to one day succeed Roger Federer as ATP World No. 1? It seems almost certain to be Spain's Rafael Nadal or Serbia's Novak Djokovic, but which member of the dynamic duo gets to No. 1 first is pretty much a roll of the dice. Or perhaps the answer is in the cards.

In town for Masters Series Monte-Carlo, Nadal and Djokovic dressed in tuxedos at the Hotel de Paris and then visited the nearby Monte-Carlo Casino, where in a high-stakes one-card draw, they left the burning question up to fate. So who drew the highest card? Only two men know.

But as the famous Latin saying 'Alea iacta est' goes, the die has been cast.

Nadal has been No. 2 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings behind Federer for every week since since July 25, 2005. The Spaniard said of Djokovic's chances of beating him to No.1: "He was the best player in the world in the first part of the year, winning the Australian Open and Indian Wells. He's a very, very good player who will have a lot of chances to become No. 1 or No. 2."

Djokovic, the current World No. 3, said of Nadal's hopes of finally getting to No. 1: "He's probably the best player in history on clay and he's been chasing Federer for a long time, so he's motivated to do that this year. [But] he has a lot of points to defend during the clay swing. I have started this year the way I wanted to by winning the Australian Open and Indian Wells, and hopefully I can continue that form on clay."