French Open Draw

[Kieran]

It's out today, so what do you think?

I hope Rafa and Nole are kept apart til the final, for the sake of a better final, but other than this, I just hope it's a magnificent tournament.

The only winners I see are Nadal, followed by Roger, then Novak.

Nadal would then be the first player to win a slam each year for nine straight.

Roger would have two career slams.

And Novak would rip his shirt and everyone else's too...

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

^ except JJ's, who already tore his after winning a tie-break in the second round.

 

[Didi]

Djokovic and Nadal in the same half. Fed in the other half with Berdych. Very cool. That's exactly what I wanted. We are going to get two cracking matchups in the semi-finals.

Here's the breakdown:

Djokovic starts with Goffin, with Dimitrov, Kohls and Haas/Tipsa waiting in the later rounds. Possible semi-final with Nadal.

Nadal could meet Rosol, lol, later Paire, Wawrinka/ Janowicz and Gasquet. Djokovic in the semis.

Berdych starts with Monfils, later Robredo, Almagro, Raonic/Anderson and Ferrer. Fed in the semis.

Roger with Benneteau, Simon, Monaco/Tsonga. Berdych in the semis.

 

[britbox]

Rafa and Nole destined to meet in the semis.

Full draw here:

QUARTER 1:

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]
David Goffin (BEL)

Ivan Dodig (CRO)
Guido Pella (ARG)

Alex Kuznetsov (USA)
Lucas Pouille (FRA)

Alejandro Falla (COL)
Grigor DiMitrov (BUL) [26]

Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) [22]
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)

Bernard Tomic (AUS)
Victor Hanescu (ROU)

Simone Bolelli (ITA)
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)

Qualifier
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [16]

Tommy Haas (GER) [12]
Guillaume Rufin (FRA)

Qualifier
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)

Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)
Ryan Harrison (USA)

Carlos Berlocq (ARG)
John Isner (USA) [19]

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [29]
Pablo Andujar (ESP)

Federico Delbonis (ARG)
Qualifier

Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Marc Gicquel (FRA)

Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) [8]

QUARTER 2:

Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3]
Daniel Brands (GER)

Martin Klizan (SVK)
Michael Russell (USA)

Qualifier
Lukas Rosol (CZE)

Qualifier
Fabio Fognini (ITA) [27]

Benoit Paire (FRA) [24]
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)

Lukasz Kubot (POL)
Qualifier

Grega Zemlja (SLO)
Santiago Giraldo (COL)

Jesse Levine (CAN)
Kei Nishikori (JPN) [13]

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9]
Thiemo De Bakker (NED)

Qualifier
Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

Kenny De Schepper (FRA)
Robin Haase (NED)

Albert Ramos (ESP)
Jerzy Janowicz (POL) [21]

Florian Mayer (GER) [28]
Denis Istomin (UZB)

Florent Serra (FRA)
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)

Qualifier
Qualifier

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)
Richard Gasquet (FRA) [7]

QUARTER 3:

Tomas Berdych (CZE) [5]
Gael Monfils (FRA)

Ernests Gulbis (LAT)
Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA)

Igor Sijsling (NED)
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)

Jurgen Zopp (EST)
Tommy Robredo (ESP) [32]

Andreas Seppi (ITA) [20]
Leonardo Mayer (ARG)

Blaz Kavcic (SLO)
Qualifier

Martin Alund (ARG)
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Qualifier
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) [11]

Milos Raonic (CAN) [14]
Xavier Malisse (BEL)

Qualifier
Michael Llodra (FRA)

Qualifier
Evgeny Donskoy (RUS)

Qualifier
Kevin Anderson (RSA) [23]

Marcel Granollers (ESP) [31]
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

Joao Sousa (POR)
Go Soeda (JPN)

Qualifier
Albert Montanes (ESP)

Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
David Ferrer (ESP) [4]

QUARTER 4:

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [6]
Aljaz Bedene (SLO)

Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
Gilles Muller (LUX)

Benjamin Becker (GER)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [25]

Juan Monaco (ARG) [17]
Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)

Viktor Troicki (SRB)
James Blake (USA)

Radek Stepanek (CZE)
Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

Philipp Petzschner (GER)
Marin Cilic (CRO) [10]

Gilles Simon (FRA) [15]
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
Pablo Cuevas (URU)

Jan Hajek (CZE)
Qualifier

Lukas Lacko (SVK)
Sam Querrey (USA) [18]

Julien Benneteau (FRA) [30]
Ricardas Berankis (LTU)

Tobias Kamke (GER)
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)

Qualifier
Qualifier

Qualifier
Roger Federer (SUI) [2]

 

[isabelle]

Olderer is very lucky...easy draw !!
can't wait to see Birdie/La monf and Paire/Bagman, 2 mouth watering matches

 

[Mog]

I like the draw.

 

[britbox]

I like the draw.

Ha, ha - me too... opened up nicely for Federer. Berdych is the big danger man in Roger's half.

 

[herios]

I like the draw.

Ha, ha - me too... opened up nicely for Federer. Berdych is the big danger man in Roger's half.

All Roger's fans will have a big smile on thier faces.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Roger seems to have a decent path to the final, though that's mainly based on an easy-ish quarter of the draw and the fact that Nadal isn't in his half. However, I would expect Ferrer to trouble him a bit if Roger doesn't tidy up his game. Berydch is not someone Federer likes to meet these days, and should they face, I actually think the clay might favor Tomas in rallies, as he has plenty of time lining up his shots and taking huge cuts at the ball (Soderling and Del Potro both did it to Fed in the past, though DP ended up losing both matches). I think Roger would have to resort to a lot of variety, tricks, drop shots, and whatnot...

Djokovic potentially facing Dimitrov in the third round, and Nadal potentially facing Rosol (also in the 3rd) makes for some very interesting early matches.

---

I like the draw.

Ha, ha - me too... opened up nicely for Federer. Berdych is the big danger man in Roger's half.

All Roger's fans will have a big smile on thier faces.

I'm feeling good about the QF streak...

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

holy crap, yes, us Fed fans should be quite thankful. so, Berdych? but he's got some hurdles himself. hasn't beaten Ferrer on clay in ages. still, nothing's a given here, it'll all depend on what Fed shows up. Rome Fed should have no problem keeping the streak alive, for sure.

and what an interesting, almost tricky draw for Nole. that said, the fact that it's the guys who actually managed to bother him will, imo, probably help him more than hurt him - he knows what to expect and respect, and he'll be all the sharper for it. i don't really worry about him.

Kieran said at the start that a Nole v Rafa final would be what everybody wants. i must admit that even I feel honestly disappointed that this is not going to happen. it definitely doesn't feel right as a semi.

as for Nadals quarter? some nice names in there, but with StantheMan questionable, and the obvious stamina problems that JJ still has, and - most of all - this being Paris, i say there's nothing to worry really. except that i really hope Rosol doesn't make it to face him. i reckon that it would be extremely painful... for Rosol (to borrow a phrase from Bane ).

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Roger could not have asked for a better draw...a couple of qualifiers at the beginning to warm up, than a wake up call from Benneteau to get his crap together and step up...rest is up to him, till the finals.
Dimitrov-Nole is intriguing, not because I think Grigor is going to beat Nole in a slam, but how he will handle himself...Will he lose the last set 6-1, or will he be able to push him ?

Rafa will want reverse that embarrassing H2H with Rosol (roll eyes) but even though it looks interesting on paper because of their previous match, Rafa is losing 7 games in total in this one.

For the first round, I want to see Simon-Hewitt the most, with Berdych-Monfils a close second...

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

i don't know what state Monfils is currently in, but this could be Very entertaining... and/or very brief. Simon-Hewitt could be a good, close matchup, but at the same time might be rather painful to watch.

 

[El Dude]

Roger's draw isn't as easy as some are making it out to be. 1R and 2R should be easy but then he faces one of his nemeses in Benneteau in the 3R, Tsonga in the QF, and possibly Berdych (or Ferrer) in SF. I can't say I'm looking forward to the prospect of a Fedal Final.

 

[Front242]

Interesting draws and I personally don't feel Fed's is an easy one. As El Dude pointed out above, those are tough matches for him.

 

[Denis]

What a dissapointment. I thought the rigged the draw these days for the benefit of tennis entertainment. A Fedal final will not do that. We could even have the absolute horror scenario of a Nadal/Ferrer final if someone (Tsonga Berdych) takes out Federer before he reaches the semis.

That said, this is really a very good opportunity for Federer to win RG again IF Djokovic makes it to the semis and does what he should do: beat the king of clay.

 

[herios]

i don't know what state Monfils is currently in, but this could be Very entertaining... and/or very brief. Simon-Hewitt could be a good, close matchup, but at the same time might be rather painful to watch.

Monfils is playing well now in Nice (he is in the SF), but you can never know when he will retire again.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

well, I meant to address Tsonga (I personally don't worry about Benneteau, reasons explained in the other thread). yes, JW has the potential to bring a lot of trouble for Fed, as evidenced by some of their past clashes at slams. and he showed what he can do here last year quite impressively. i reckon he'd be VERY eager to go a step further.

now, i want to say that his results this year so far haven't been spectacular, looking at hisplaying activity. he did better than i initially thought, had some good results on clay, esp. in DC. still, nothing spectacular either. yes, Wawrinka and JJ played quite well - but not good enough for the real big guys. the Cilic loss in Miami, as well as the Very early losses in the earlier spring hc events... it's interesting that he's been bowing out against guys who can hit rather big, rather than being outlasted by more stable players.

 

[Denis]

well, I meant to address Tsonga (I personally don't worry about Benneteau, reasons explained in the other thread). yes, JW has the potential to bring a lot of trouble for Fed, as evidenced by some of their past clashes at slams. and he showed what he can do here last year quite impressively. i reckon he'd be VERY eager to go a step further.

now, i want to say that his results this year so far haven't been spectacular, looking at hisplaying activity. he did better than i initially thought, had some good results on clay, esp. in DC. still, nothing spectacular either. yes, Wawrinka and JJ played quite well - but not good enough for the real big guys. the Cilic loss in Miami, as well as the Very early losses in the earlier spring hc events... it's interesting that he's been bowing out against guys who can hit rather big, rather than being outlasted by more stable players.

I watched him at Madrid and he looked quite decent actually. Madrid probably suits him though. But he is not that bad on clay and he always has the potential of upsetting Federer. I hope so at least.

---

Other notable things about the draw:
- Goffin is going to lose a lot of points this year
- Gulbis meets Berdych in the second round. Gulbis has taken the big man down before.
- I think Berankis will take down Benneteau so Fedfans don't need to worry. They actually don't need to worry at all about Benneteau.

 

[Didi]

What a dissapointment. I thought the rigged the draw these days for the benefit of tennis entertainment. A Fedal final will not do that.

Let me get this straight...Had they (according to you) 'rigged' the draw and put Djokovic and Nadal in opposite sides of the draw, you would have moaned about them rigging the draw in the first place and Nadal getting a cakewalk into the finals. Now that they put Djoker and Nadal in the same half, it's still not good enough because it's not for the benefit of tennis entertainment (what is that btw?) and could result in yet another boring Fedal final. Mate, can anything please you at all? No offense intended, it's just funny. Berdych vs. Fed and Nole vs. Rafa are the best and most intriguing semis we could have hoped for but that's just me.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

well, the paper semifinal isn't Berd v Fed, it's Ferru. also, i think Denis was making fun of our conspiracy theorists regarding the rigging