French Open draw poses few problems for Federer and Nadal
It’s tough to envisage a French Open draw that would have looked too problematic for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and that’s largely the way things have turned out for the tournament favourites.
Federer begins his tournament with a first-round match against world No. 71 Peter Luczak, a player who after drawing Nadal in the first round of the Australian Open, must be wondering when he’s going to get the luck of the draw in a Grand Slam this year.
While there’s precious little common ground between the career of the Australian journeyman and the defending champion, they have both been on the receiving end of a loss to the up-and-coming Ernests Gulbis on clay this spring, though Federer was quick to avenge his defeat in the second round of the Rome Masters 1000 with a quarter-final win over the Latvian No. 1 in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters 1000.
With his last three losses coming against Federer, Nadal and Fernando Verdasco (on his way to the title at the Barcelona Open) Gulbis might be on course to be waiting for another chance to square off with the world No. 1 on clay this spring, this time in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Although with 10th seed Marin Cilic and last year’s runner-up Robin Soderling in Gulbis’ section of the draw the talented 21-year-old will have his work cut out for him in the early rounds.
Before the quarters, Federer, who shouldn’t experience any difficulties in his opening two rounds, may need to get past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and in all likelihood either Swiss counterpart Stanislas Wawrinka or Frenchman Gael Monfils in the fourth round.
The semi-finals throw up a potential first rematch since the final of the Australian Open between Federer and Andy Murray, but the Scot looks set to face some challenges early on at Roland Garros as he continues to play himself into form after slumping to consecutive first-round defeats at the Miami Masters 1000 and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, and a second-round loss at the Rome Masters 1000, before reaching the quarters in Madrid.
Murray is faced with former world No. 7 Richard Gasquet in the opening round and if he gets through that the next two likely match-ups are Juan Ignatio Chela and 25th seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the third round. One thing is for sure, and that’s if Murray’s going to win the first Grand Slam title of his career at this year’s French Open, he’s certainly going to earn it.
By contrast, Nadal should have an unproblematic start at Roland Garros, where he faces French wildcard Gianni Mina in the first round. A potential third-round match against former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt might provide the first hint of a challenge for Nadal.
If Fernando Verdasco was hoping the draw would offer him some assistance, in the form of someone else defeating Rafa before the seventh seed had to face the challenge himself, he’s likely to be disappointed, with the David Cup teammates on course for a quarter-final match.
Third seed Novak Djokovic presents a potential semi-final opponent, but will need to find something special if that match up eventuates after suffering defeats at the hands of Nadal at Roland Garros for three consecutive years from 2006 to 2008. The Serb may need to see off two other Spaniards in 16th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in the fourth round and ninth seed David Ferrer in the quarters if he’s to book a date with Nadal in the penultimate match.
The only man to so far defeat Nadal at the French Open, Soderling, is safely tucked away on Federer’s side of the draw, so chances are the task of extracting revenge for last year’s loss will fall to another player in the 128-strong field, unless the Swede can win his way to a second straight Roland Garros final.
In the end the draw has done exactly what it was always likely to do for Federer and Nadal and that’s provide the details of what should be their respective paths to the final. It’s now just a matter of each player ensuring he doesn’t trip up along the way.
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