As if Rafael Nadal needed any help from the draw in order to enjoy smooth sailing at the French Open, that is exactly what he got on Thursday evening. Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori, David Goffin, Stan Wawrinka, and Stefanos Tsitsipas all landed in the bottom half of the bracket with Alexander Zverev instead of in the top half with Nadal.
Zverev, Thiem, Nishikori, Wawrinka, and Tsitsiapas are all in the same quarter along with Lucas Pouille and 2017 Roland Garros fourth-round performer Karen Khachanov. Thiem could face Tsitsipas (second round) and Nishikori (fourth round) before even reaching the quarterfinals.
An absolutely loaded bottom half also includes Djokovic, who awaits a qualifier before possibly running into Spaniards David Ferrer in round two and Roberto Bautista Agut in the last 32. Goffin and fellow one-time French Open quarterfinalist Pablo Carreno Busta are also in the third section, as are Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios, Fernando Verdasco, and Gael Monfils. Verdasco ousted Zverev in last year’s first round.
Nadal, who opens with a rusty Alexander Dolgopolov, may not have anything remotely interesting on his plate en route to the semis aside from a possible fourth-round date with Denis Shapovalov.
Potential semifinal foes for the world No. 1 include Marin Cilic, Juan Martin Del Potro, John Isner, and Kyle Edmund. Cilic and Edmund are on a collision course for the last 16, although the Brit may have a difficult opener on his hands against Alex de Minaur.
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