TENNIS – Rafa Nadal, nine-time Roland Garros and defending champion, was drawn in the same quarter as Novak Djokovic during the Main Draw ceremony of the Roland Garros in Paris. Nadal, who dropped to World Number 7 but seeded 6th at this event, is on collision course with Novak Djokovic for a potential clash of titans in the quarterfinal. Diego Sampaolo
Nadal (6) boasts an incredible record of 66 wins in his 67 matches at the Roland Garros and clinched nine titles from 2005 to 2014 in his ten appearances. However, this year, during the European clay court season, Nadal has not won a title, a period which he has dominated in the past. He reached the semifinal in the Monte-Carlo, the final in Madrid and the quarter final in Rome. His only title for the year was in Argentina earlier in February.
Djokovic (1) on the other hand has won two clay tournaments in Monte-Carlo and Rome and is the heavy favourite to win his first ever Roland Garros title and complete the career Grand Slam as well as being half way through to a calendar slam. A calendar slam has only been completed by one man Rod Laver though bot Nadal and Federer have come close to accomplishing this feat. Nadal has beaten Djokovic three times in Paris; twice in the finals in 2012 and 2014 and in the semifinal in 2013.
Nadal will start against Quentin Halys from France in the first round before a possible match against either Alexandr Dolgopolov or Tommy Robredo (18). He could potentially face Grigor Dimitrov (10) in the fourth round. Djokovic will open his Roland Garros campaign against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen before meeting either Bernard Tomic (27) or wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis in the 3rd round. Everyone expects that both Djokovic and Nadal will get to the quarterfinal to face each other in their 4th matchup in Paris. Many feel that this will definitely be the year when Djokovic finally gets a win over Nadal on Philippe Chatrier court.
The most interesting first round matches in the first quarter of the draw are Dimitrov vs Sock, Coric vs Querrey and Almagro vs Dolgopolov
Andy Murray (3), who won his first two clay tournaments in his career in Munich and Madrid, was drawn in the same half as Djokovic and Nadal. Murray, who reached two semifinals in Paris in 2011 and 2014, could potentially meet 2013 finalist David Ferrer (7) in the quarter finals.
Murray will not have a difficult path until the fourth round when he could meet either John Isner or this year’s Australian Open quarter finalist Nick Kyrgios. Ferrer could face Joao Sousa in the second round and either Gimeno Traver or Italian Simone Bolelli in the third round
The most interesting first round matches in this section of the draw are Isner vs Seppi, Haase vs Cilic, Kyrgios vs Istomin, Vesely vs Mayer.
In the bottom half of the draw, Tomas Berdych (4) who could meet either Italian Fabio Fognini (28) in a re-match of the exciting Rome third round or Jo Wilfred Tsonga in the third round before a possible quarter final against Kei Nishikori (5). Berdych will start against a qualifier, while Nishikori will face Paul-Henry Mathieu.
Nishikori could face Thomaz Bellucci in the second round and Fernando Verdasco (32) in the third round. In this section of the draw there are other Spanish players Roberto Bautista Agut (19) and Feliciano Lopez (11).
The most interesting matches in this section of the draw are American Steve Johnson vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (26), Bautista Agut vs Florian Mayer and Lukas Rosol vs Juan Monaco
Roger Federer (2) could face Frenchman Gael Monfils (13) for the fourth time at the Roland Garros in a potential fourth round match. Monfils beat the 2009 Roland Garros champion in their more recent two encounters. If they both progressed to this round, it has the potential to be an epic match in front of Monfils’ home crowd.
Federer could renew his battle against Stan Wawrinka (8) in the quarterfinal in what could be a potential re-match of last week’s Rome semifinal. Before his possible clash against Federer, Monfils could meet Dominic Thiem and Istanbul finalist Pablo Cuevas in his section
Federer, who recently won the inaugural tournament in Istanbul and finished runner-up in Rome in the final against Djokovic, will open his Paris campaign against a qualifier before a possible match against Marcel Granollers, while Wawrinka will play his first match against Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan before a possible third round clash against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Milos Raonic, world’s number 6 withdrew from the event earlier this week due to a nagging foot injury.
