Serena Williams is seeking her third French Open title in four years. The last time Nadal even advanced to the quarters of a Slam was in last year’s French, when Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
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He then went on to beat the current world No. 2 Andy Murray in the semi-finals, only to succumb to Stan Wawrinka in the finals.
However, a pair of former champions lie in wait beforehand with 2010 victor Francesca Schiavone a potential third-round opponent and Ana Ivanovic, who claimed her lone Grand Slam on Court Philippe Chatrier in 2008, a prospective last-16 foe.
“It’s only two days out from the start of the tournament and I don’t know who I’m playing against yet”, Murray said about playing a qualifier.
The draw followed news that Gael Monfils has become the latest to pull out of the second grand slam of the year.
The French tennis federation (FFT) said there will be three mandatory check points for entry into the Roland Garros tennis complex during the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, and spectators will be subjected to systematic body searches.
Top seed Djokovic, bidding for a 12th career major, starts his campaign against Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun, the world number 100 who made the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2010.
Nine-time champion Nadal was drawn in a tough quarter and will meet Australian Sam Groth first up.
Murray is seeded second for the first time at Roland Garros and will face qualifier Radek Stepanek in his first match. I was feeling pretty confident, I think, just going into some of those matches. Of course, he would like a high-profile, grand-slam-winning former player to step into the Frenchwoman’s shoes but having relied on Jamie Delgado, his assistant coach, for the past four months, he could not be happier with his form.
The top seed and defending champion could face Ana Ivanovic in the round of 16, with Victoria Azarenka a potential quarterfinal opponent.
Earlier this year, Williams fell to Angelique Kerber in the Australian Open final.
When asked by ESPN if he thought this could be the year Djokovic does what he couldn’t, Sampras said, “The competition at that place is so fierce, but Novak is so good”.
Federer withdrew because of a back injury on Thursday, and on Friday morning tournament organisers announced Monfils will not be able to play due to a virus.
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“I am sorry for my fans in Paris but I very much look forward to returning to Roland Garros in 2017”.
