The 2020 French Open draw ceremony was held on Thursday, and the big story was always going to be the placement of U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
Well, there will be no third consecutive Thiem vs. Rafael Nadal final at Roland Garros. The third-seeded Austrian landed in the bottom half of the bracket, making a semifinal showdown with Nadal possible.
A Nadal-Thiem semi is probable, in fact, but it is by no means a slam dunk. Thiem’s draw is brutal the entire way, starting with Marin Cilic before likely featuring Reilly Opelka in round two, Casper Ruud in round three, either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Stan Wawrinka in round four, and Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals. The marquee matchup of the entire first round is also taking place in that section, as Grand Slam champions Wawrinka and Andy Murray are going head-to-head right off the bat.
Although Nadal’s draw could get ugly in the second week, it should be simple in the early stages. The Spaniard’s nearest seeds are Dan Evans, Fabio Fognini, and John Isner. Evans is not good on clay and neither Fognini nor Isner has been playing well since tennis returned from the coronavirus hiatus. U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Nadal.
The bracket could not set up any better for world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who has lost to Thiem in two of the last three French Opens–including in a five-set semifinal last spring. Not only did Djokovic avoid his biggest threat other than Nadal, but his entire quarter is weak. The 33-year-old Serb should have no trouble whatsoever until possibly running into either Roberto Bautista Agut or U.S. Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta in the last eight.
There is much more intrigue in the other section of the top half. Semifinal contenders include Daniil Medevedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov, Andrey Rublev, and Grigor Dimitrov.
who ya got?
f##king typical! Nole lucked out like crazy. I don’t like rafa’s draw at all…foggy early on is no joke and then Zverev and Dom…yuk!
I am really fed up with Novak getting easy draws..
Maybe Nadal has been having it too easy winning twelve…not the end of the world if he loses,is it?
Yeah, it’s been much too easy. All Rafa’s had to do is beat schmucks like Federer, Djocovid, Thiem, Wawrinka, Murray. Man needs a challenge!
Too easy but not for the reason you give. The fact that his fans are already saying he mightnt win because of the weather is sort of proof . Again there was reference to the Wimbledon roof issue . Its always PHYSICAL factors with Rafa that end up as ‘reasons’ why he wins/loses.
Anyway, I think we’ve had this discussion before, Ive had my say and just want to enjoy the tennis, good luck to Rafa on his thirteenth 🙂
Novak got Thiem the last 4 times
The real issue for Rafa isn’t the draw; it’s that he is going in with 3 matches since February. It’s a huge ask for him to find and maintain form after so long.
Let’s go Nole! Now he has a real shot to win the French!
Isnt Thiem an even bigger unknown than Rafa. He may well go out early..
Thiem does have a brutal draw. But for Novak’s sake I hope he breezes through to semis
Thiems draw to win the US open is pretty much the worst I have ever seen. Cilic, Opelka, Ruud (on fire), wawa?, Schwartzman (on fire), nadal, djoko
Cilic is a well known force on clay and playing really well, no? (Well, NOT!) Opelka? On clay? Get real, guy does not know how to move on the stuff and Thiem is a good returner, stands well back. Ruud will be good, I think, but he’s not in Thiem’s class yet. Probably a year or two away. Schwartzman, dunno their h2h. Nadal and Djoko, yeah, gonna give him problems. If Thiem plays well he makes the semis and if Rafa is still there, Rafa wins but it won’t be easy.
Rafa has a harder draw than Dom. Foggy is very dangerous on clay and able to beat players of the first rank. Whatever his form he is the kind of player who can suddenly catch fire.
Zverev in the quarters isn’t easy.
Stan could beat Dom if he gets there. He is the kind of player who can lose to anyone but if he gets through he could beat either Dom or Nole.
Rafa has a much easier draw than Thiem. Thiem is expected to win all those matches upto SF but it’s a question of accumulated fatigue. None of those match ups are a walk in the park and Ruud, Wawa and Schwartzman could be long ones.
That’s actually the good news for Rafa, that he may not have to play Thiem because his draw is so tough. Which will leave him in much better shape if the finals is with Djoko.
I don’t see anyone other than those three winning it
Fog has been hurt. He has barely even won any games in his warmup events. He won’t get out of the first round.
by the standards of first and second rounds, Cilic and Opelka are terrible opponents to have to play. Thiem’s draw is the worst at a slam I have ever seen.
Lol winning 12 FO titles, im just wondering what Nadal has left to prove, 🙂
Amen to that, sister!
Very tough line up for Thiem, and easy street for Joker…..and how about Murray vs Wka in the first round….Wow!!!
Rafa’s draw is ok as both Zverev and Thiem have no match plays on clay, may be still recovering from their USO exploits, and so may be vulnerable during the first few rounds of the draw.
Djoko’s path to the semifinal is relatively easy compared to the other TOP guys; I’m hoping for Tsitsipas to peak during the FO and reaches the final. I hope he doesn’t disappoint this time, it’s time for him to show that he can reach a final at a slam, and I find that he’s better on clay than on the hard court. Medvedev otoh is not good on clay.
I understand that Cilic and Opelka are not good options for 1 and 2md round. But that doesn’t mean they will bother the beast Thiem. Schwartz and Wawrinka are not easy at all, but I wouldn’t be sure they will get there. Like Raonic had an amazing Cinci, and what did he do at USO?
I hope someone will compete vs Djoko in the SF and will not just grant him the final, so can see a balanced final, instead of fatigued a 5-setter semifinalist from the 2nd half.
Rafa – Thiem will be a good one.
Really doubt Waw will bother Thiem.
I agree with this. Thiem recently got past Cilic in 4 on a HC, clay should be more straightforward. Opelka is a top quality serve-bot but he’s playing on dirt. Wawrinka is always dangerous at slams, but looks badly out of form. Schwartzman is tough and consistent, but Thiem is both of those things and he actually has firepower.
I’d expect Schwartzman not to go far because he’s inconsistent. Wawrinka a spent force ,Murray also,but you never know .
The player Is most like to win is Tsitsipas ,I like his game on clay.Thiem’s already got his Slam and I don’t really like Zverevs game any more.
I’d expect Schwartzman not to go far because he’s inconsistent. Wawrinka a spent force ,Murray also,but you never know .
The player Is most like to win is Tsitsipas ,I like his game on clay.Thiem’s already got his Slam and I don’t really like Zverevs game any more.
I’d expect Schwartzman not to go far because he’s inconsistent. Wawrinka a spent force ,Murray also,but you never know .
The player I most like to win is Tsitsipas ,I like his game on clay.Thiem’s already got his Slam and I don’t really like Zverevs game any more.
It would be sweet to see Tsitsi in the final this time.
Man, how unlucky Murray is to play Waw in round 1. At least if he got an easier
opponent and qualified to the 2nd round, he’d build further confidence.
Everyone is missing Ruud, he looks so good on clay. Will be a great match betweeen him and Thiem if it happens. Hope he doesn’t tire himself out in Hamburg!
I have a feeling that Rafa’s Tough draw only ends up being a tough draw on paper. High chance Thiem and Fog don’t make it far enough to meet him. He might meet Schwartz man is the semis, but meeting Med or Tsisi is not easy either.
Tiggy has picked Rafa to beat Nole in the final!
That’s the official Tignor kiss of death as he is pretty well always wrong.
For the semis he’s gone with the seeding except for Med’s bracket where he’s picked Shapovalov to get to the semis which strikes me as unlikely.
The official Tignor kiss of death means Rafa is definitely toast!😀
Hey, Tiggy predicted Djokovic to get to the finals so he’s also Doomed, right?
Rafa’s won RG 12 times. Tignor must have predicted a Nadal win on at least SOME of those occasions!
Good God! Apparently even the new balls are supposed to favour Novak!
Dom has said that the switch from Babolat to Wilson tennis balls means that the balls are slower. He said that the old Babolat balls were perfect for both him and Rafa so this will have a knock on effect!
Is there anything which works in Rafa’s favour this year?!
Apparently the new Wilson balls are lighter, more open and designed for longer rallies.
He’s the King of Clay, are you doubting his ability to switch between balls?
Well, Jose Morgado (Portuguese commentator) relayed a quote from Chris Evert “Nadal is still the number one pick for anyone with any intelligence.”
I dunno. The new roof is leaking, the weather is terrible, the new balls are said to favor big servers. Can Reilly Opelka win the French Open?!? I feel an asterisk coming on.
So everyone is pencilling djoko to be in finals ..we will see…don’t be so sure guys…
I think tsitispas will surprise this time …
Yeah, Tsitsi – Thiem is possible, too.
Rafa Nadal – “It’s a very strange situation. Here the conditions are very, very tough. The weather is so, so cold, so that makes it difficult for everyone. But the conditions are a little bit extreme to play our tournament.”
Its a level playing field. I hope Rafa doesnt use weather or the balls as an excuse
Rafa won’t but we Rafans may! :-}
Whatever weather Rafa can win! It’s not the weather or the opponents, it’s himself. He won 12 and lost just 2, that should tell us how dominant he is at RG.
I agree completely. Enough of the complaints, just go out there and play your game, you are the greatest clay court player in History and possibly forever. Go out there rafa and do your thing and the rest is history. Tired of all these complaints about this and that, Borg would never be complaining about anything at the french open with how dominant he was. Maybe Borg should call rafa and give him a pep talk and snap him back to the reality of: no matter the conditions/circumstance/tough draw, you can and SHOULD win this. The end.
Exactly.But some people have him losing already .
I wonder IF he loses early would this be the end of his big run just as it was for other great champions like Borg and Sampras.They never recovered.
For heaven’s sake Al!why are you sniping about Rafa and his fans so much!
This is a unique year in tennis because of covid and the cancellation of tournaments; it can’t be compared with any in the past!
It was Thiem I quoted above saying the ball doesn’t favour his game and won’t favour Rafa either!
I am routinely very supportive to Fed fans when he loses or has problems so it is very disappointing that you keep sniping…
Exactly Amy, it’s quite sickening to find someone always sniping at the Rafa fans.
When are you going to be bothered about Rogers end run ? Last I heard he has not won a slam for 2.75 years . Too much obsessed about Rafas run ending ?
Not sniping ,just giving a different view when everyone is so pro-Rafa on here.Amy,Lucky,see my post earlier 4.25.
It’s true that once a long run if domination ends it’s often the end of a player eg Borg,Sampras.Federers run ended a long time ago but he still managed to hang around and win the odd Slam. Nothing personal meant against Nadal,you’re a touchy lot!
Sampras won the USO and retired on the spot. Figured he’d done enough. Borg says he retired because he hadn’t been “feeling it” for over a year. I don’t think he lost his last RG, just his Wimbly and then USO (which he’d never won, although he got to the finals once or twice). I think he just wanted to try “partying” while he was still young.
People have been burying Nadal for years. I thought he was done at the end of 2015. I thought he might never get over his knee problem in 2013. I figure next time I “bury” him I’ll make sure he’s “dead” first. As in retired.
And sorry you cant discuss tennis a bit more objectively instead of this fan-based stuff ,Sanju et al.
Rafa himself has been complaining about the conditions .
What gets me is that his fans cant even cope with a single possible loss just because the conditions don’t favour him.
Ramara , that wasn’t to you ,meant for the posts above.
The semis will be between Djokovic and Shapovalov, and Thiem and Nadal. There’s no one to stop Novak this year … https://www.138mph.com/just-hand-the-roland-garros-trophy-to-novak-djokovic/
Yeah Kavita, exactly. Like Nadal or Thiem, who are them on clay, right? Some unknown players. Djoko is vulnerable. The key is for the opponent to be consistent. He was dominated by Raonic who could have closed in 2 at Cinci, Bautista played badly the tb, and Carreno basically took 1st off him.
Nadal and Thiem can play him down on clay.
It will be fun if novak loses before even reaching the final…just to see what all those virtually handing him the title will have to say
On tennis.com..4/8 have novak winning…
Where are your RG match picks Ricky? 😉
Nobody should be stupid enough to hand the trophy to Novak. They said he was a sure bet at the USO. But he did himself in when he hit the lineswoman with a ball in the throat.
I already said that I don’t think RG should even be played. The virus is still a threat. Conditions are bad, new balls that are heavy. Excuse my language, but it’s a cluster fuck. Rafa is coming in with 3 matches. He hasn’t played a best of five set match in months.
I think they should have waited until next year when hopefully there is a vaccine.
I don’t intend to put up with any garbage about making excuses for Rafa. It’s about telling the truth when it comes to the reality of playing in a pandemic.