The French Open draw ceremony delivered the most difficult potential paths to the the title for the top three favorites.
Thursday’s proceedings in Paris put Rafael Nadal with Novak Djokovic in a brutal top quarter of the bracket. As if that isn’t tough enough, Carlos Alcaraz is also in the top half.
Nadal left himself at the mercy of the draw after losing to Denis Shapovalov in the Rome third round last week. That result propelled Stefanos Tsitsipas past Nadal in the rankings, giving the 2021 French Open runner-up a top-four seed in Paris. Nadal fell into the 5-8 seeded group at No. 8, as we saw on Thursday that ended up costing him dearly. Of course, the 13-time Roland Garros champion’s ongoing foot injury was a big problem in Rome so it remains to be seen if he can even make a possible quarterfinal matchup with Djokovic become a reality.
Up first for Nadal is Jordan Thompson, while Felix Auger-Aliassime–who is coached by Toni Nadal–could be a fourth-round opponent.
Alcaraz may not like seeing Djokovic and Nadal in the same half, but he won’t be looking ahead just yet to a possible semifinal showdown against one of those two all-time greats. In round three the 19-year-old Spaniard could run into Sebastian Korda, the only player to beat him on clay this season. Alcaraz lost to Korda in Monte-Carlo before reeling off titles in Barcelona and Madrid. The world No. 6, who proceeded to withdraw from Rome, also lifted the Rio de Janeiro trophy earlier this year.
The bottom half, of course, is the place to be. It is shaping up nicely for Tsitsipas to make a return trip to the final, while Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner are also contenders. If Rublev and Sinner square off in the fourth round, the winner would be favored against anyone in the quarterfinals. It probably won’t be No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev, but rather Miomir Kecmanovic, Pablo Carreno Busta, or Marin Cilic.
Tsitsipas’ section is friendly as a whole, but the Greek has to go up against Lorenzo Musetti in round one.
welp
Welp indeed.
This is going to be an interesting tournament I hope N. Djokovic meets Alcaraz again 😂 it’s going to be a crazy match.
Novak Djokovic might win the French Open I’m rooting for him 💪👏
Terrible Draw.. Other half is a joke..Hope Rafa overcomes..
All I ask for is that Rafa’s doctor could do something to his troublesome foot so that he would last through his draw for as far as possible.
If his foot acts up, at least he wins his match and then withdraws, like in 2016. I don’t want to see him limping off a match when he loses.
The draw is a disgrace! So lopsided it’s a farce. The bottom half is a complete joke. It just could not have been worse for Rafa.
I am with Lucky. I truly hope that Rafa’s doctor can help him get as far as he can. Let him win the match and let him exit. I also do not want to see him limping off in terrible pain like in Rome.
Hi everyone!
Am back for RG. What an appalling draw for Rafa. And I didn’t know that he lost to Shaps because of foot pain.
If his foot is bad I don’t see how he can beat Novax in the quarters. It isn’t even about Novax, if he can’t move freely he may not get to the quarters.
So disappointing!
Does anyone know the details of how the foot flared up so badly? I have been completely out of the loop trying to get work done.
PS this draw is so farcical it makes one think that RG should seed like wimby used to.
Tsitsipas the favourite to reach the final? Maybe but it would be no shock to go out early he not the best mentally or tactically
Well his draw is a cake walk. However, he is not one to bet on too much. Could see him slipping up.
I actually think Alcaraz may feel the pressure and go out early.
Compared to the top half it is easy but some of the players are still very tricky.Sinner/Rublev?
Neither Sinner or Rublev are much of a problem in a slam.
Rublev regularly goes out early for one thing.
The draw is absurdly lopsided in a way that is bad for the tournament.
If alcaraz and Djoko meet experience will be the difference this time in such a big match
Agreed. If they meet Novax will win.
Sorry. Anon is me amy.
I really hope we are not going to see the same kind of lopsided draw at wimby.
However at wimby there will be no Med ( or Rublev)so Rafa may be seeded in top 4 even if he has a poor RG because of the foot.
Might grass be easier on Rafa’s foot? Rallies are much shorter for one thing. His knee, which used to be a problem on grass, doesn’t seem to be a problem now.
I know grass is bad because of the slipperiness. But there may well be a long period of dry fine weather which means the courts will be far less slippery and will favour rafa.
PS sorry if I sound very glum about rafa’s chances. I didn’t know until an hour ago that he lost to Shaps. Seeing that plus his horrible draw is not a barrel of laughs.
I really hope he can give it a go. But if his foot is bad ( meaning realistically he can’t win) then I don’t want to see him play Novax in the quarters.
Ok lot of gloom n doom here..please read all these links and calm urself what has to happen will happen . Everyone has written him off so it’s good
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1527622312903725056
https://mobile.twitter.com/gigicat7_/status/1527637572498993154
https://mobile.twitter.com/carole_bouchard/status/1527622960982413312
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1527625305334112257
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1527622615262810112
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1527623802477334534
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1527634693180596224
https://mobile.twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1527624877083090946
N lastly most important Mr Moya
https://mobile.twitter.com/RaphaelDabadie/status/1527597482334732288
I have digested all the bad news and am calm now.
What will be will be.
I haven’t read all those tweets yet sanju but I have thought about things and if his foot is ok then yes he can definitely win. Afterall, we know his foot was bad shortly before AO and he went expecting not to win. It seems to go on and off unexpectedly so he could well be ok.
I hope Novax gets over confident like in 2020 and Goran starts shooting his big mouth off again. Novaxx won Rome then while Rafa played awful so it’s definitely doable.
I think that having less pressure on him will help him mentally. No one is picking him to win which is actually good imo.
I looked at some weather forecasts. First week is unsettled but second is warm and fine. Good for rafa.
But Amy if Novak rafa qf happens they will make it night (:-
Yeah I did think that might happen sanju and that’s not good. But remember in 2020 it was cold and they played with the roof closed and rafa was brilliant!
The script can get flipped unexpectedly.
I think we need to stay calm… I still say that rafa being written off will help him.
Most Novak fans are giving him the title..ofcourse he is the fav n the betting sites say it too ..but surprising is few moronic fans of his think he won’t even get to play alcaraz or rafa
https://mobile.twitter.com/pavyg/status/1527582089251590146
Sanju I strongly recommend not looking at any tweets by Novax fans. Who cares what they think and say?!
You sound like a really bad person, a racist and a Nazi. First you talk disparagingly about Novak’s fans (as if we were a lower class) and then you talk against the Russians in the same way. Did you talk like that about the Americans when they bombed Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia? .. I guess not. Btw, I’m a big fan of Novak and I can’t wait to watch him live next week at Roland Garros. Have a nice evening.
You think Amy is a Nazi?!?!? LOL! Nor is she a “racist”. Do you even know the meaning of these terms? Or are you just hurling random insults? If she talks about Novak fans as if they were a lower class it’s because of the those who post idiocies like yours. Do have a nice day and tomorrow, why not try to learn a bit of history?
Obviously this particular Novak fan is quite ignorant when it comes to knowledge of Nazis or racists. People go after the Novak fans who invaded this forum last year after Novak beat Rafa at RG. Insulting Rafa and his fans and saying the most despicable things.
Now I would not call their behavior then as being Nazis or racists. I would call it boorish, disrespectful, classless and just plain stupid.
I would never even put myself in the position of reading tweets by Novak fans. Why go there? They always say the same things. It never changes. Nivsk won one tournament this year. Now he is talking himself up like he always does. His fans just follow suit.
I was looking for the piece about wimby banning Russian and Belarusian players.
Broadly speaking I support it. I haven’t watched any tennis for ages but I am extremely uncomfortable about tennis trying to pretend it is some kind of neutral space. Many other sports have come out very strongly. During the recent 6 nations rugby there were messages beamed everywhere in London, Cardiff, Rome, Dublin and Paris saying that each union strongly condemned Russia and stood with Ukraine. That’s damn well as it should be. Premier Football here has played a blinder so Russia had to block it so that it’s citizens couldn’t see the massive support for Ukraine.
Sport is not a neutral space. Fascist regimes adore it and Russia is unquestionably a fascist regime. About the only times Putin has appeared in public recently is at sports venues and with sporting figures. There is absolutely no way he should be allowed to levy some victory at wimby for his own advantage.
It really also might be nice ( sarcasm intended) if the Ukrainian players were centred in this rather than hearing about the Russian players and their opinions all the time. Many of the Ukrainian players have been absolutely scathing about their Russian compatriots saying they have said nothing to them and uttered no apology. That’s appalling imo.
I apologise repeatedly for things that my country has done even if I completely oppose those policies or wasn’t alive when they took place. As a citizen of this country they are still part of my history and my responsibility.
Generally speaking I am extremely unimpressed with the response of players as a whole and as far as I know only Murray and Fed have really spoken out. Murray is donating all his prize money to Ukraine and Fed has given 500k and said he and Mirka are horrified and heart broken. Andy has also tweeted repeatedly making very clear what he thinks.
Good for both of them but the rest need a long hard look in the mirror.
Sorry this is not the right thread but I couldn’t find the piece about wimby written a while back
I assume that “messages beamed everywhere in London, Cardiff, Rome, Dublin and Paris” also for Syria, Afganistan or Yugoslavia (or many others) before?
That is really a nice thing…
I agree that sport is not a ‘neutral space’ but imo the Wimbledon ban is still a bad decision that sets a terrible precedent.
To be clear, I have no issue with economic sanctions on Russia, tennis organisations speaking out against Russia’s actions in Ukraine, or not letting players compete under certain flag(s). But this is an individual sport where country is of secondary importance, and banning tennis players from competing at all means directly penalizing someone who does not deserve to be penalized.
The other thing is, that unlike economic sanctions, it doesn’t really apply pressure to Putin anyway, this idea is basically myth. He cares if there is access to finance, energy, raw materials, goods etc. He obviously loves Russian sporting success, but he’s not going to care about whether Daniil Medvedev competes at Wimbledon. Plus, Wimby could’ve just not let him compete under the Russian flag anyway, as other tournaments correctly decided! This is largely a decision about image – the Royals didn’t want to be seen presenting a trophy to someone Russian (unlikely anyway).
Now if you don’t agree with all that, consider the precedent. Imagine that Serena, Venus and Roddick are slam champions going for tennis records, but then the Iraq war happens (which the players are against) and is internationally condemned, and they can’t compete at slams (for how long? the whole duration of the war?). Is that the situation we should want in tennis? Various players being banned whenever illegitimate military actions arise? No, it is not. Frankly, it’s absurd. Players should not be directly punished for the actions of their government, and it’s even more crazy when they’re clearly against it.
Also, I support any Russian/Belarussian player who speaks out against the war, but it should be understood that players may not speak out because of an obvious risk of recriminations that could threaten their safety/their family’s safety.
Oh and I also agree that not being the favorite will help Rafa. He never likes having all the attention on himself. Let everyone blather on about Novak and Alcaraz. In the end, as Rafa has said in the past, it’s what happens on the court that counts.
Nny, let’s hope so! I am trying to be upbeat..! I do genuinely think the removal of pressure will help him.
amy,
Nice to see you here again. I see that you had to get caught up. I don’t know how upbeat I will be. This is the worst case scenario for Rafa. We don’t even know if he can get to the quarterfinals. It all depends on the foot. I do not want to see a repeat of what happened in Rome.
Well I am glad I missed Rome nny!
Let’s see how he goes. I am looking forward to talking with you again…
Fingers crossed!!
amy,
🤞
I see Djokovic as the favourite right now.
Nobody has mentioned Zverev, but he has a chance if he plays his best tennis.
Are you kidding? When does Zverev play his best tennis at slams? There is a reason he lost in the fourth round to Shapo at the AO. He played like crap. Zverev is not winning RG.
Well I might agree with that, except that Zverev made the SF last year and almost beat Tsitsipas, but his draw is super tough, so there is that, for me he is the 4th best clay player right now though.
Zverev plays just as well at Slams as he does in Masters – maybe I should say plays even better, since he has reached semis and finals of Slams – with a significant number of five setters. Thats talking purely about his tennis .
No he doesn’t or he would have won a slam title by now. Like Meddy did when he beat Novak at the USO. He is far too inconsistent to win a slam. He had a great opportunity at the AO with Novak out. But his performance against Shapo was dreadful.
he almost won the US Open in 2020.
Zverev winning RG is a long shot, but not impossible.
No ranking points at wimby this year https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-wimbledon-decision-2022-faq
Just read that the ATP has stripped Wimbledon of ability to award points, thereby basically reducing it to an exhibition event.
Wow!
I just saw this. I doubt very much that wimby will back down. In all the reports and polls I have seen public opinion in GB is overwhelmingly in favour of the ban and extremely rude comments are made about the tennis players criticizing it.
I also just saw that Chris Bryant who is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Committee said a week or so ago that the ATP was behaving appallingly and asked if they wanted Putin to win.
Might be nice if the players cared as much about the Ukrainian players whose country is under genocidal attack and who can scarcely play for stress as they do the Russian players who will only have to miss a tennis tournament.
I have already said what I think above but I have plenty more sarcasm and comments in the pipe line.
Maybe best thing would be to exclude Ukranian players as well , to keep it fair?
This war is no tennis players fault.
It’s not an exho event..it has slam status .just no ranking points .
So if rafa wins wimby this year ,all Novak fans will put * against it ..lol
lol if Novax wins RG, * *
Leave all asterisks off the trophys. Bite marks are bad enough 😉
Seriously I have mixed feelings about the ban- if the players would condemn the war thwen they should be allowed to play.But they wont do that , for their own safety I guess, and the whole thing is bound to cause friction between the players.
Its not quite the same situation in as 1982 when argentinians couldnt play there -this time though Ill miss Meddy in poarticular as he has a decent flat hitting game for grass.
I guess that Rafa is the last person who wants himself to crash out of RG due to physical issues again. So maybe Rome was an accident and the chances for this to happen again in Paris are not that big. I feel that all things considered he stands a far better chance to win RG than he did for AO.
Regarding Wimbledon, the player council and the ATP/WTA kind of have to play the devil’s advocate, its their job to represent ANY professional player regardless of how they feel about it personally. Now Novax may feel close to his Russian cousins, but Rafa for sure doesn’t love them that much. The situation is complicated. I feel satisfied that Russians won’t play Wimbledon, but I understand that someone must stand by them regardless of their personal convictions.
Very tough draw for both Rafa and Joker….I like Carlos to win….but keep an eye on Kec, Rudd, Rune, and Sinner
Reading some of the posts here, disappointing double standards.
Put players and their fans down just because they might be rivals for the RG title. Just enjoy the two weeks FFS!
get lost sad troll.
*against the Wimbledon title? Well there’s already an *against the AO title this year! Who cares!
Several years later, who would still remember all these? What the records show would be all the winners’ names, no ** against them! I don’t understand why people are so bothered about * or not, they really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things!
You have to beat whoever you face to get to the title, you can’t choose who you want to face, can you? Whoever that’s absent for whatever reason, well that’s not the winner’s fault!
Just like Fed in the era when he had little competition , setting records all over the place…
I bet Rafa has * against most of his FO titles when some argued he didn’t beat some FO champions to win his FOs! Who cares beating FO champions or not, people only remember the champion himself, not who he beat in the final. Twenty or thirty years down the road, who cares he beats Thiem or Puerto in the final! Perhaps beating Fed or Djoko carries some weight though, as they’re his fellow big three.
Well isnt that’s exactly the point you were arguing against about Fed and weak competition when he was winning nearly everything? I don’t believe in asterisks myself. It’s some achievement to win the career even for Agassi in 1999 beat Medvedev in the final
No one giving rafa a chance.. well his foot is dodgy so its right too.. it’s djoko ,alcaraz or tsitsipas https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/expert-picks-predictions-of-roland-garros-champions-sleepers-and-disappointments
Rafa’s giving himself a chance! That’s good enough for me.
well said Ramara!
That’s not me! Get lost anonymous.
It’s getting very boring having anon impersonate people all the time..
I see Alcaraz and Zverev are playing tomorrow. Presumably Rafa and Novax will play on Monday.
Patrick McEnroe has released a furious video clip of him saying that RG has to change its seeding to the old wimby system. This is what I said yesterday! He said that Med being #2 on clay is ridiculous and that tournaments are being ruined by Rafole meeting early.
I agree with all this as I said yesterday. Wimby should go back to its old seeding as well.
Also, Rafa and Alcaraz are the #5 and 6 seeds. In the past, am sure 5 and 6 got placed in opposite sections of draw? As with #7 and 8. If so, let’s revert to this! The draw this year with Rafa, Novax, Alcaraz and Zverev all on one side is ridiculous. It’s ruining tournaments having these lopsided draws. If Tsitsi win s because the other half of the draw throws up someone who is half dead after playing several 5 setters while Tsitsi has had a nice stroll through his half then his win gets an * from me.
I don’t believe it.Selective asterisking
So what do you think about the basic point about seeding weighted around performance on the surface?
I agree with that.
Yes I agree- but has to go on overall ranking as well.The problems not as bad as it used to be when the surfaces were totally different in speed .
Most forums I’ve been on require to to log in .It doesn’t prevent trolls altogether but bound to help .Also there were mods
It’s true that there is no security here. I posted sth by mistake yesterday with no name and no email. In every other forum I have commented on it wouldn’t have gone through.
This whole impersonation business is getting very wearying.
Also, as you say, people got moderated.
If tsitsi wins the French it would be no fluke after his performances on clay esp last year’s final.To say asterisk it is rather churlish
Just like it was churlish to say that Rafa winning the AO would not mean as much because Novak wasn’t there. Why? Because Novak thinks he is special and does not have to get vaccinated.
Don’t do it for Rafa with asterisks and not for others. Talk about hypocrisy!
Just like it was churlish to say that Rafa winning the AO would not mean as much because Novak wasn’t there. Why? Because Novak thinks he is special and does not have to get vaccinated.
Don’t do it for Rafa with asterisks and not for others. Talk about hypocrisy!
Sorry for the double post.
Hypocrite? You know well that I said Rafa really deserved his AO title . I’m the one whose been arguing against the asterisks.
Ppl this is FO who”s talking about AO……done and dusted!! Right now as a Rafa fan I’m preoccupied with this draw! Rafa and Nole meeting in the quarters is really unfortunate!!! Who ever gets to the final on that side of the draw will clearly already be the champion!!! If Rafa loses in the quarters I will be crushed bcoz it would mean that for two consecutive yrs Nole has taken him down at FO and I am not sure if I’m prepared for all the hoopla surrounding that occurrence so that’s y I would have preferred if Rafa had skipped FO but he’s simply not that type of guy!!! So I am going to prepare myself for that eventuality and at least it will give Rafa enough time to prepare for grass and make a push there!! If he wins Wimby then it would simply make clear that he not fit enough for FO and then with 22 slams his legacy is complete in my eyes!!! Vamos!!!
Rafa@s draw is tough but we forget about possible upsets and unexpected injuries and withdrawals. Who knows what may happen that would make things a bit easier for Rafa! Let’s wait and c. I just hope Rafa”s health improves and that he continues to amaze us with his spectacular tennis!! Vamos champ!!
Another thing I have noted, whenever Rafa has been written off in a slam he more often than not ends up giving the proverbial middle finger to that!! So like I said before, I’m super happy that he is not expected to win here, so let the others deal with the pressures and expectations on them, that would allow Rafa to focus squarely on his tennis!