AUSTRALIAN OPEN SEEDING LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR ROGER FEDERER VS. RAFA NADAL AS EARLY AS THIRD ROUND

Written by: Staff on 11th January 2017

Sydney Fast 4 Australia v World tennis exhibition match

AUSTRALIAN OPEN SEEDING LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR ROGER FEDERER VS. RAFA NADAL AS EARLY AS THIRD ROUND

epa05707292 Spanish Rafael Nadal of the World team in action against Nick Kyrgios of Australia during the Sydney Fast 4 Australia vs World tennis exhibition match at the International Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia, 09 January 2017. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

By Ricky Dimon

One ranking spot for either player–that’s how close Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal came to giving themselves no chance of running into each other in the third round of the upcoming Australian Open. Federer just barely missed out on a top 16 seed at No. 17 in the world, while Nadal finds himself on the outside looking in for a coveted top 8 seed at ninth in the rankings.

The good news for the two all-time greats, however, is that they still have just a one-in-eight chance of going head-to-head in the third round Down Under. The No. 9 through No. 16 seeds are placed in the draw in a random order such that they will meet the No. 17 through No. 24 seeds–also placed in no particular order–in the third round if they all win their first two matches.

If Federer was the No. 16 seed instead of 17th, he would have been certain to avoid Nadal until at least the fourth round. The case would be the same if Nadal was the No. 8 seed instead of ninth. If both Federer and Nadal were one spot better (16th and eighth, respectively), they would be guaranteed to meet no earlier than the quarterfinals. That’s because in the fourth round, the draw matches seeds 1-4 with 13-16 and seeds 5-8 with seeds 9-12.

Of course, no seed is completely immune to a potentially difficult draw. Although Juan Martin Del Potro’s withdrawal depleted the field of dangerous unseeded floaters, that list still includes Steve Johnson, Gilles Muller, Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando Verdasco, Benoit Paire, Fabio Fognini, Borna Coric, Dustin Brown, and Taylor Fritz.

Nadal got a rough draw last year in Melbourne, where he faced an unseeded Verdasco in the first round. In a rematch of their epic 2009 semifinal battle, Verdasco exacted revenge in another five-setter with a 7-6(6), 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory.

“When you are going to an event, you know, you have to put attention on every moment, every practice, (and) every match,” Nadal explained. “All the opponents are dangerous. Last year I felt that I was ready; played great in Abu Dhabi, played great in Doha, I had a good week of practice in Melbourne, and then I lost in the first round. So you never know, and you cannot predict.”

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 09 January 2017. The Australian Open starts on 16 January. EPA/JULIAN SMITH

Federer, who has not played an official tournament since Wimbledon last summer, won his fourth Australian Open title in 2010 but has not been back to the final since. He lost in the third round of the 2015 event to Andreas Seppi before falling to Novak Djokovic in the 2016 semis.

“I hope it’s not going to matter for me because I’m playing that well that it doesn’t matter who’s going to come against me,” the 35-year-old Swiss said of potentially meeting a top player in the early rounds. “Maybe it’s even better to play the better guys earlier because I might be having more energy left in the tank. That’s one open question: how much energy do I have left in a best-of-five-set match or after a lot of tough matches in a row?

“I hope the other guys are going to follow this draw and think, ‘Oh I hope the No. 17 seed is not gonna be in my section,’ rather than me thinking that I hope I’m not going to be in their section.”