French Open men's preview: Nadal, Djokovic on collision course

After a month of claycourt action and warm-up events, the ‘real deal’ is finally here as the 2013 French Open gets under way this Sunday. The lead-up to the tournament has been somewhat discouraging with top players like Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro opting out due to injury. However, one cannot help but wait with bated breath as perhaps the most ‘open’ French Open in years is just around the corner. With just three days to go for the marquee event, the draw was released yesterday in the presence of last year’s champions, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. In this article, we will conduct a detailed analysis of the men’s draw for this year:

Section 1:

This section is headed by World No.1 and 6-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Djokovic has inched closer and closer to the French Open crown over the years as he has made steady improvements to his game and will be hoping that this is the year he finally reigns supreme at Roland Garros and in the process, completes a career Grand Slam. The lead up to the tournament has not been ideal for Djokovic but as his rivals know, he always manages to raise his game up a notch in the Slams.

The Serb opens up against talented youngster David Goffin of Belgium and in an opportunity for revenge, is likely to play ‘everyone’s new favourite player’ Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. Dimitrov had taken advantage of Djokovic’s injury and sloppy play in Madrid to record the win of his career and would have to play out of his skin to repeat the feat and prove that the triumph was no fluke.

The bottom half of the section features the under-performing Bernard Tomic and German Philipp Kohlschreiber. With mercurial Ukranian Aleksandr Dolgopolov also in the mix, expect some interesting matches in this section.

Fourth Round Prediction: Djokovic v Kohlschreiber

Quarterfinalist: Djokovic

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Section 2:

World No.11 Janko Tipsarevic headlines this section of the draw, which is perhaps the most open one, with anyone likely to beat anyone on their day. Tipsarevic has taken advantage of the withdrawals to enjoy a boosted seeding and opens up his campaign against French veteran Nicolas Mahut.

An intriguing match is on the cards as Tipsarevic is slated to meet Verdasco in the second round, a fall from grace for the Spaniard, but then again, an opportunity to redeem himself.

The top half of the section sees the American serving machine John Isner and German veteran Tommy Haas. Haas has played some of the best tennis of his career over the past 2 years, defying his advancing age to find himself on the brink of the top 10 once again. The section also features the promising American Ryan Harrison as well as dangerous claycourt floater Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Fourth Round Prediction: Tipsarevic v Haas

Quarterfinalist: Haas

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Section 3:

Rafael Nadal is undoubtedly the main attraction in this section of the draw as he seeks to win an unbelievable eighth title at Roland Garros. Nadal has performed admirably since his return from injury and is going into the tournament confident with three consecutive tournament wins in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.

In perhaps a humorous coincidence, he finds himself in the same section as his conqueror at Wimbledon last year, Lukas Rosol. The Czech had pulled off one of the biggest upsets in tennis history last year when he beat Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon but will have to do exceedingly well to even reach his third-round meeting with Nadal as he is likely to play Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round.

Nadal opens up against Daniel Brands of Germany and faces a relatively easy path to the second week of the tournament. The bottom half of the section sees Kei Nishikori reap the rewards of his recent success with a high seeding as he plays Canadian Jesse Levine in his opener and could face challenges from Santiago Giraldo and Benoit Paire en route to the fourth round.

Fourth Round Prediction: Nadal v Nishikori

Quarterfinalist: Nadal

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Section 4:

This section promises to be the most exciting as it features two of the most talented players on tour in Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet. Both players are finally managing to string together some consistent results this year and find themselves headed for a mouth-watering fourth round showdown.

Wawrinka will look to shrug off his recent injury woes as he plays Thiemo De Bakker in the first round and could face Pole Jerzy Janowicz two rounds later. Local boy Gasquet will play Sergei Stakhovsky in the first round with no real competition other than Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko blocking his path to the second week of the competition.

Fourth Round Prediction: Wawrinka v Gasquet

Quarterfinalist: Wawrinka

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Section 5:

The top half of this section is almost impossible to predict as Tomas Berdych plays Gael Monfils in easily the pick of the matches of the opening round.

Berdych has displayed some good form over the weeks leading up to the tournament, but is always vulnerable in the opening rounds of a Slam and finds himself up against not only a talented Monfils but also the hostile French crowd, desperate for a local winner after 30 years.

If Berdych gets through that hurdle, he will most likely play Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a player who is finally realising his vast potential this year and could well upset the Czech, a feat he has accomplished once before at Wimbledon last year. The bottom half of the section features Nicolas Almagro, who is no mug on clay and tireless Italian Andreas Seppi.

Fourth Round Prediction: Gulbis v Almagro

Quarterfinalist: Almagro

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Section 6:

David Ferrer headlines this section of the draw as he seeks to launch yet another French Open title push. The Spaniard has long been the ‘best of the rest’, a player who has performed consistently, but fades away dramatically when playing against the Top 4. He plays Australian Marinko Matosevic in the first round, with not much competition in his way till the fourth round.

Milos Raonic could provide some worries to Ferrer in the other half of the section, but he will have to get some consistency going as he plays veteran Xavier Malisse in the first round and could square up against South African Kevin Anderson in the third round.

Fourth Round Prediction: Ferrer v Raonic

Quarterfinalist: Ferrer

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Section 7:

The ‘Tim Henman of France’ , Jo-Wilfred Tsonga is the main attraction in this section of the draw. Tsonga has long been touted as the man who could finally give the French crowd a winner whom they could call their own and came agonizingly close to beating Djokovic in the quarterfinals last year.

Tsonga has the game, but is mercurial and needs to handle the pressure better, and with new coach Roger Rasheed, this could well be his year. The Frenchman plays Aijaz Bedene in the first round, and could face either of his compatriots, Jeremy Chardy or Paul Henri-Mathieu in the next couple of rounds.

Marin Cilic and Juan Monaco headline the bottom half of the section, with Radek Stepanek playing the role of the dark horse.

Fourth Round Prediction: Tsonga v Cilic

Quarterfinalist: Tsonga

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Section 8:

Roger Federer will seek to build upon his recent good run at the Rome Masters as the old warhorse enters yet another French Open, with the hope of perhaps capturing an unlikely Grand Slam in the twilight of his career. Federer will play Pablo Carreno-Busta in the opening round and could face India’s Somdev Devvarman in the second round.

The last of the local hopes, Gilles Simon, will headline the other half of the section and faces a tough opener against never-say-die Aussie Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer has won the French Open just once through his illustrious career and will look to give it a real go this time, given he has been given a relatively easy draw.

Fourth Round Prediction: Federer v Simon

Quarterfinalist: Federer

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Quarterfinals Predictions:

Djokovic d Haas

Nadal d Wawrinka

Ferrer d Almagro

Federer d Tsonga

Semifinals:

Nadal d Djokovic

Federer d Ferrer

Final:

Nadal d Federer