RG draw preview

The draw for Roland Garros will be made on Friday this week.

Seeds #1-4 will be drawn against seeds #13-16 in the 4th round:
Murray/Djokovic/Wawrinka/Nadal - Berdych/Sock/Monfils/Pouille

And seeds #5-8 will be drawn against seeds #9-12:
Raonic/Thiem/Cilic/Nishikori - Zverev/Goffin/Dimitrov/Tsonga

Lower-ranked outsiders include: Kyrgios (#18), Gasquet (#24) and Del Potro (#29)

Interesting for the draw will be:

• 4th round: will any of the top 4 seeds get outsiders Kyrgios, Gasquet of Del Potro in their section of the draw (seeds #13-16 don't look so dangerous imo)?
  
• QF: who of the top 4 seeds will get in-form Thiem and Zverev in their quarters (of even both of them as there's a 25% chance those guys will be drawn to meet in the 4th round)?
  
• SF: will Djokovic and Nadal be in the same or opposite sides of the draw?
  

Or will the top 4 raise their level so much that it all doesn't matter until the semis?

Yes seeds 13-16 don't look very worrying. I don't think Gasquet will be too worrying for the top players either...he's not played much this season and isn't particularly a threat when he's playing well. Fognini is also a dangerous opponent (#28).

Everyone else will be praying for a Wawrinka/Murray quarter!

I'm not sure whether you can say Thiem is "in-form" when he plays one match of lights out tennis and the next like a qualifier.. again, at the risk of repeating myself, we have only seen the "in form" over three sets.

Haddie-nuff wrote:I'm not sure whether you can say Thiem is "in-form" when he plays one match of lights out tennis and the next like a qualifier.. again, at the risk of repeating myself, we have only seen the "in form" over three sets.

He's been the second best player, behind Nadal, throughout the clay season. I think that is "in form".

Then why did he and not Zverev win Rome?. . we will see how "in form "he is over 5 sets

Murray in Stans half so Rafa in Djokovic's.

QF:
Murray v Nishikori
Wawrinka v Cilic
Thiem v Djokovic
Nadal v Raonic

Rafa has Paire in R1. Verdasco v Zverev.
Theim v Goffin & Wawrinka v Kyrgios R4.

So is that Nadal, Djoko, Theim and Zverev all in same half?

JuliusHMarx wrote:So is that Nadal, Djoko, Theim and Zverev all in same half?

No. Zverev is in the top half, the rest are in the bottom half.

Think Zverev has a good shout to make the final. Murray, Stan, Nishikori and Cilic haven't been in sparkling form. He has Verdasco in R1 and then Cuevas R3, other than that a good draw.

Murray has Del Potro in R3.

Stan finding some form in Geneva. Probably not too unhappy about his draw

Good draw for Nadal, I can see him coasting to the Quarter finals. Highest seed in his quarter is Raonic and I cannot see him troubling Nadal, particularly on clay.

Djokovic has a tricky opener against Grannollers who is a good clay courter, would expect him to win that but could have got a much easier opening round. Novak will be glad to see Theim as highest seed in his quarter given the way they seem to match up. Goffin vs Thiem in round 4 though (if they make it that far could really go either way).

Murray has a pretty decent draw with the exception of Del Potro. Nishikori the highest seed in his quarter and Kei has not been in good form lately and I think he retired with an injury recently too. However Murrays form has been poor so certainly no guarantee he will make it that far. Del Potro on clay would be a tough match for him

For Wawrinka, not a bad draw. I think his biggest obstacle could be an inspired Fognini but that is only if Fabio actually turns up to play. You could argue the same for Wawrinka though. As we all know with Stan, the further he moves in the draw his level and belief tends to really increase. On the other hand he was woeful against Murray in their French open meeting last year.

Nadal to win it............I can see him doing it for the loss of only 1-2 sets (if even!)

Here is what the experts have to say.. Hope they are right



http://www.iol.co.za/sport/tennis/hard-to-look-past-rafa-nadal-at-french-open-9313466

Yes think Rafa is quite likely to win it. Djokovic or Thiem (should they get there) in the semi-finals is likely to be his biggest test and you'd make him quite a big favourite for that. His early draw looks ok - but Paire could be difficult on his day.

Nishikori lost to Mischa Zverev today. He's in terrible form. Murray could find some form and make QF or SF, but don't think he will if reports of illness are true.

Nadal v Stan or Zverev in the final I think.

I think verdasco is a huge potential banana skin for Zverev in round one. I think there will be a lot of expectation on Zverev after winning in Rome and I wonder will he start to feel the pressure to perform. Verdasco loves playing the big players on the show courts. He is very unpredictable but if he brings his best game, I can see him toppling Zverev. That is IF he brings his top game

I err on the side of caution because I have so often seen the favourite fall to the unexpected .. but I would love to see him get his No 10 and he and me would be most happy

Murray probably will have to meet Berdych in R4. Berdych seems to start playing well again, beating Raonic in Lyon to reach the final.

Murray, and his fans, need to take it one round at a time. He could come unstuck at any stage given his recent form.

JuliusHMarx wrote:Murray, and his fans, need to take it one round at a time. He could come unstuck at any stage given his recent form.

b

Yep!