The French Open draw ceremony was held on Thursday evening in Paris, where Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will soon be plodding their way through the same half of the bracket. Nadal and Federer are on a collision course for the semifinals, while No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem landed in the top half with Novak Djokovic.
An 11-time champion at Roland Garros, Nadal will go up against a qualifier in his first match and would do the same in round two. His nearest seed is David Goffin, while Nikoloz Basilashvili and Richard Gasquet are possible fourth-round opponents. Kei Nishikori is the Spaniard’s 5-8 seed.
Federer’s path to the quarters is a friendly one, but at that point either Stefanos Tsitsipas, Marin Cilic, or Stan Wawrinka could stand in his way of a showdown with Nadal.
There is a long way to go before Federer vs. Nadal, and even longer before a possible Nadal-Alexander Zverev contest. That would not come until the final, as Zverev is in the Djokovic-Thiem half. And to say it is unlikely would be an understatement, as the fifth-ranked German has never advanced to the semifinals of any slam (lost in the Roland Garros QFs to Thiem last spring).
“Before thinking about Rafa, I have to get there,” said Zverev, who is currently competing in Geneva (semifinals). “If I had to play against him, l would be in (the final). First, I have to beat all the others. I need good preparation; it’s very important. I had a very good one last year; I won a lot of matches but an injury (in the QFs against Thiem) stopped me in Roland Garros. I’ll have another opportunity this year.”
Are there opportunities for people not named Nadal this time around? Maybe…but maybe not.
“It’s very difficult to win three sets to Rafael,” Nadal’s uncle, Toni, explained. “He won the title 11 times and it’s very tough to cope with him. He plays…calmer [at Roland Garros]. I think Djokovic will be his ultimate rival there; he played very well in Madrid and he will always be his maximum opponent both on hard and clay.”
Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in the recent Rome final, kicks off his bid for a second French Open title against an up-and-coming Hubert Hurkacz.
Possible quarterfinal tilts in addition to Nadal-Nishikori and Federer-Tsitsipas are Djokovic vs. Zverev, and Thiem vs. Juan Martin Del Potro.
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H’mmm. Semis: I actually like Nadal-Federer. Tsitsi is young and fit though and I haven’t seen the whole draw yet.
If Zverev gets to Djoko the Serb will eat him for breakfast, but I don’t think he gets there.
Will be interesting to see your full tournament picks.
I’ll go:
4R
Dkovic beats Coric
Fognini beats Zverev
Thiem beats Verdasco
Delpo beats Khachanov
Tsitsipas beats Wawrinka
Federer beats Schwartzman
Nishikori beats Medvedev
Nadal beats Basilashvili
QF:
Djokovic over Fognini
Thiem over Delpo
Fed over Tsitsipas
Nadal over Nishikori
SF:
Djokovic over Thiem
Nadal over Fed
F
Nadal over Djokovic
These seem the logical picks. I actually think Ricky will have the same QF, SF and final as you.
I would be happy for Fed to play the SF. A lot of ‘free points’ there.
My picks are very similar apart from Tsitsi over Fed(😄) and someone else than Basil
Nadal has to raise his level only in the semi. Up to there, no major obstacle it seems.
Fed over tsitsipas if they play is not a lock in. This is clay and points are longer and Tsitsi is a fighter who does not cave in or mentally fold.
Novak coric may not be very straightforward too. For all you know Novak may face agut instead of zverev in qf and we all know he loves playing Agut 🙂
Djokovic probably has Querry in the second round, a big hitter that relishes playing the top guys, and beat Novak and Murray at Wimbledon in consecutive years, so i done think thats a gimmee for Novak, having said that not sure about Sams clay court pedigree ….
Not much of a pedigree
quite possibly a repeat of last year’s final.
GOAT wins it all….but Thiem a huge threat to everyone!
All the banana peels for Rafa are far away- Scwartzman, fognini, kyrgios, thiem, tsitsipas. He got the easiest of the 5-8 seeds and easier of the 3-4 seeds. Also two qualifiers.
Which app does one use to watch rg in the usa?It is not on espn or tennistv? How much is the subscription?
Cant you live steam it? Try this one, I watched the Rome Masters there, was quite good.
https://tennis-stream.net/watch-live-stream-13/
Thanks will try
Tennis Channel covers RG up through the semis or the finals, which I think go to ESPN or one of the other major networks. Check with your local cable provider. I bought an “extended sports package” to get it. I don’t think it’s very expensive but I don’t remember. You can also buy the Tennis Channel Plus app but I’ve never done that.
Hope it is not Bolleli he draws as a qualifier. Just saw he won his last qualifying match. He threw the kitchen sink ar Rafa last year in r1
Bolleli is in the top half. Rafa’s 1st match will be on Monday against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. In Rnd 2 the winner will play the winner of the Rnd 1 match between Yannick Maden and Kimmer Coppejans.
Some really mouth-watering matches!! Can’t wait!!
VAMONS Rafa!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGSRY0p1OSE
If Rafa wins RG he would have had to go through Roger and Novak to get this trophy!!
I prefer to think of it this way: Roger and Novak will have to go through RAFA! Right now pretty much everyone and his brother is picking Rafa to win, with the exception of Steve Flink and probably Pete Bodo who wouldn’t pick Rafa to win a Futures.
Ramara,
I like the way you think! Right on! LOL at your comment about Pete Bodo. So true!
Whatever happens Rafas nothing left to prove at the FO anymore , or on clay for that matter, all gravy now ….
In other news, Kyrgios has withdrawn from RG “due to illness”. Call me cynical but I think he’s just sick of clay. What kind of illness causes a player to withdraw from a slam this far in advance?
I’m not religious, but I pray that we get a Rafa-Djoko Final! A 5 set epic, preferably! And then I pray we get a either a Fedal or Fedole Wimbledon final! These classic matchups may go away sooner than we think- I want to cherish them while we still have them.
Please, if Rafa and Djoko go five sets at RG final, don’t ever hope for a Fedal or Fed/Djoko Wimbledon final. They’ll kill each other at RG and will be left with nothing for Wimbledon. They’re not young anymore. Why should they kill each other for the benefit of Fed at Wimbledon?
I seriously don’t think we’ll get a classic Rafa/Djoko FO final, because Djoko has to get past Delpo/Foggy/Thiem, not an easy path.
I honestly don’t want to see another Fedal or Fedole match , just sick of them. Rafa /Djoko on clay is about as good as it gets these days.
Not for the benefit of Fed- for the benefit of us! And having an epic final at RG should not mean anything for being ready for the Wimbledon final… They’re in their early to mid 30’s, not 40! If Fed makes the SF at RG and then the Final at Wimbledon, he wouldn’t be in any better shape at his age.
In my opinion, Rafa and Novak are the clear-cut favorites, and everyone else is considerably behind them. If this wasn’t a best-of-5 set Major, then I would say that Thiem and maybe Tsitsipas would be not too far behind them. But, alas, this IS a best-of-5 set Major. When Rafa is playing this well on clay, I really believe that nobody has a realistic shot of beating him, except for Novak. And when Novak is in this form, and has won the last 3 majors, the only person who I realistically can see beating him is Rafa at RG. I can understand people giving Rafa a slight edge over Novak. Personally, I think that Novak’s edge over Rafa at the majors since 2014 is not something to be just tossed aside. I might be willing to give Rafa a 51/49 percent advantage, but that’s it. I really believe that anything could happen if they meet in the Final. Could be a routine win for Rafa. Could be a win for Novak. For a few reasons, I see a routine win for Novak as less like than a routine win for Rafa. Let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised by any outcome, aside from Novak winning like he did in AO. As we never know when the injury bug could strike and they are getting older, I’m not sure if Rafa could have a better shot on paper at beating Novak at a major again than he has at this RG. I know I would love to see it happen!
I do think that Novak has a considerably more challenging path to the final than Rafa. While I struggle to see Novak not making the final, it’s at least possible. I don’t see any way in hell that Rafa doesn’t get there. Even if he were to face Fed in the SF, it would be no issue. If this were anywhere else, it would be a great match, but not at RG. Fed’s older-guy, throw-back style just does not bode well against Rafa on clay, and especially not in best-of-5. Personally, I think Fed should consider it monumental if he were to make the RG SF in his first RG since 2015 and at his age. But it will end there. He just doesn’t have the firepower anymore from the back of the court to really succeed at RG, and that’s no knock on him- he’s just too old now. He would need to have pretty much the greatest serving performance of his career, as well as his greatest net performance ever. And that just doesn’t work against the other top players on clay. I actually have concluded that one reason, aside from it being his RG swan song, that he is even playing clay is so that he can get a ton of attacking and net practice before Wimbledon. He probably figures that if he can be relatively successful being ultra-aggressive on clay, then it could give him that much for confidence for that style of play on grass. Just a theory.
Nadal, Djokovic, Thiem, Federer, Tsitsipas, Wawrinka are the favourites in this order. I find the draw at RG boring and less relevant than in the other 3 slams. Because Rafa is the favourite by a big margin here.
I feel like Rafa will be in demolition mode in RG. 2008 to 2017 Rafa might make a re-appearance.
*2008 or 2017
I Dont care whom Rafa beats to win the title, personally i just want him to win the title, two majors behind Federer, heads will be spinning lol ….