On Friday, at the French Open draw, Rafael Nadal was sat rubbing his chin, looking far from comfortable, as Maria Sharapova drew out the names of the seeded men.
When she pulled his name out for the same half of the draw as world No 1 Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard could not help but laugh at the cruelty of fate as the audience gasped.
Defending champion and winner of nine of the past 10 French Open men’s crowns, Nadal will not be meeting Djokovic in the final like they did in 2012 and 2014, but in the last eight. To get that far, he might have to beat Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round and that is not an easy match, either.
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Nadal has not been playing at the incredibly high levels on clay we have come to expect from him, so Djokovic is a slight favourite, coming to Paris as the hottest clay-court player with a 10-0 record and two Masters 1000 titles.
The Serb has lost to Nadal six times in his 10 tournaments at Roland Garros, but this is probably his time. Djokovic could be biting into the Musketeers’ Trophy on June 7, having finally completed a career grand slam – if he can get past Nadal.
Serena’s injury woes
Like Nadal, Serena Williams has a pretty tough draw. She could meet former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka in the third round, sister Venus in the fourth, good friend Caroline Wozniacki in the quarters and then Petra Kvitova, who brought her 27-match winning streak to an end in Madrid.
Williams will not be too concerned about those opponents. Going by her recent history at Roland Garros or other grand slam tournaments, though, the American should be more worried about her lesser-known opponents in the earlier rounds.
Two of her last three results at the French Open were first-round (2012) and second-round (2014) defeats, with Virginie Razzano knocking her out three years ago and Garbine Muguruza packing her off last year.
So Williams will be more worried about the qualifier she meets in the opening round and, of course, her elbow injury. Those could be her biggest challenges in the quest for grand slam title No 20.
Federer’s good fortune
Roger Federer has not reached the final at Roland Garros in his past three visits to the French capital, but this could be his chance. Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray are all in the other half of the draw. Even David Ferrer, the 2013 losing finalist, is not in his half.
The Swiss master and his fans should, then, be pleased with the draw. Federer’s biggest challenge could be the fourth round against Gael Monfils. He could then face Stan Wawrinka in the quarters and Tomas Berdych in the semis.
A finalist at Rome, Federer should fancy his chances of getting through those matches and to his sixth Roland Garros final. Anything less could be construed as underachievement.
Mauresmo’s French dream
As a player, Amelie Mauresmo made 15 consecutive appearances at the French Open, her home grand slam tournament, but never made it past the quarter-finals.
She did reach the semis at the other three grand slams events and won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006.
In Paris, though, she was weighed down by the burden of expectations.
Her dreams of success at Roland Garros remain alive to a degree through the player she coaches, Andy Murray.
The Scot, who had never reached the final of a clay-court event in the first 10 years of his career, has just won two in a week, including the Madrid Masters 1000, where he beat Nadal in the final. Murray has a tough draw in the French with both Nadal and Djokovic in his half, but if he can go the distance, it would be a dream come true for Mauresmo, who is expecting a child in August.
Can Sharapova defend?
A five-time grand slam title champion, Maria Sharapova has never successfully defended a major crown. At Wimbledon, she lost in the semis as defending champion in 2005, was shocked in the third round at the US Open in 2007 after winning the title a year before and missed her defence of the Australian Open in 2009 because of a shoulder injury.
The closest Sharapova has come to defending a grand slam tournament crown is at the French when she reached the final in 2013 but lost to Serena Williams.
She must be a good chance to do it this time.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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