FRENCH OPEN TENNIS 2016, DRAW PUTS DJOKOVIC & RAFAEL NADAL ON THE SAME SIDE & DEFENDING CHAMP STAN THE MAN WAWRINKA LOOKING GOOD

Written by: Staff on 20th May 2016

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FRENCH OPEN TENNIS 2016, DRAW PUTS DJOKOVIC & RAFAEL NADAL ON THE SAME SIDE & DEFENDING CHAMP STAN THE MAN WAWRINKA LOOKING GOOD |

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer’s withdrawal earlier in the week, which allowed Rafael Nadal assume the No. 4 seed after previously staring at the fifth spot, guaranteed there would be no Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic quarterfinal showdown for a second straight French Open. A Nadal-Djokovic semifinal, however, is a real possibility after the draw ceremony was held on Friday.

The fifth-ranked Spaniard landed in the second section of the bracket and he will go up against Djokovic if both men win their first five matches. That is by no means a certainty–especially when Nadal’s draw is taken into account. The nine-time champion of this tournament should have an easy time of things through two rounds, but he may have to face familiar foe Fabio Fognini in the last 32. Dominic Thiem looms large as a potential fourth-round adversary for Nadal. A deep but less daunting other half of Nadal’s quarter includes Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Goffin, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Joao Sousa.

Aside from seeing Nadal in his half (which really should not cause him to lose any sleep given the recent head-to-head history between those two rivals), Djokovic was a big winner at the draw ceremony. The 2015 runner-up, who is still in search of his first Roland Garros title, will not run into anyone more difficult than either Federico Delbonis or Pablo Carreno Busta prior to the second week. Additionally, the 5-8 seed in Djokovic’s quarter is an ice-coldTomas Berdych.

Wawrinka finds himself in what is arguably an even weaker section that also features Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic, Gilles Simon, Jack Sock, and Viktor Troicki. None of those seeds appears to be daunting–at least not at the moment and not on clay.

Kei Nishikori, who has to be considered the most dangerous of the 5-8 seeds, did not draw a friendly hand. His eighth of the bracket includes Richard Gasquet, Nick Kyrgios, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Fernando Verdasco. Murray should have a much easier road through his side of the quarter before likely colliding with Nishikori, Gasquet, or Kyrgios in the last eight.

Among the intriguing first-round contests are Dolgopolov vs. Verdasco, Berdych vs. Vasek Pospisil, Wawrinka vs. Lukas Rosol, Troicki vs. Grigor Dimitrov, Kohlschreiber vs. Nicolas Almagro, Alexander Zverev vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and Borna Coric vs. Taylor Fritz.