Djokovic Leads 2013 Men’s Draw at Roland Garros

World number one Novak Djokovic was drawn in the same half of the 2013 French Open draw as seven-time champion Rafael Nadal in Paris. Of the top three seeds, Djokovic appears to have the trickier draw. The top seed Djokovic, who is looking to become the eighth player to complete the Grand Slam of all four major titles, will play David Goffin in the first round. Last year, Goffin qualified and reached the fourth round when he lost to Roger Federer in four sets. Djokovic is attempting to join Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Nadal. 

Djokovic would meet the player who beat him at the Mutua Madrid Open, 26th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, in the third round. Alexandr Dolgopolov, the 22nd seed, or 16th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber may be fourth round opponents. Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic, who plays Nicolas Mahut in the first round, or the 12 seed Tommy Haas could face Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

Third seed and three-time defending champion Nadal, who has a 52-1 record at the Paris major, starts his campaign against Daniel Brands. Nadal is hoping to sink his teeth into his 12th major crown. Spanish players have won the Roland Garros title in 12 of the past 20 years. Nadal may face Lukas Rosol, who won their 2012 Wimbledon clash, or 27th seed Fabio Fognini in the third round. Seventh seed Richard Gasquet, who takes on Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round, or the ninth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, who lost to Nadal in the Madrid final, may be quarterfinal opponents.

Djokovic has a 15-19 lifetime head to head record against Nadal. The pair last met in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final in April, which Djokovic won. Nadal, who beat Djokovic in last year’s Roland Garros final 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, has a 6-3 record against the Serbian in major championship clashes.

The second seeded Federer, who captured the 2009 title over Robin Soderling, will face a qualifier in his first and second round matches. The Swiss is bidding to capture his 18th major championship title. Federer could challenge 30th seed Julien Benneteau in the third round. Last year, Federer narrowly beat Benneteau in the Wimbledon third round. He could play the 15th seed Gilles Simon or the 18th seed Sam Querrey in the fourth round. Sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who plays Aljaz Bedene in the first round, or 10th seeded Marin Cilic, may be quarterfinal opponents for Federer.

Fourth seeded David Ferrer, a semifinalist in 2012, is in Federer’s half of the draw. Ferrer will play Marinko Matosevic in the first round. Fifth seed Tomas Berdych, a semifinalist three years ago, challenges Gael Monfils in his opener. Berdych may play Ernests Gulbis in the second round. Ferrer and Berdych could meet in the quarter-finals.