Rafael Nadal could get Novak Djokovic in French Open semis
PARIS (AP) — Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal could face top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the French Open semifinals a year after they met to decide the title.
Friday's draw for the clay-court Grand Slam tournament placed Nadal and Djokovic on the same half of the field, while Roger Federer could face David Ferrer in the other semifinal.
Federer, the owner of a record 17 major titles including the 2009 French Open, will face a qualifier in the first round — and if he wins that, he'll play a qualifier in the second round, too. Djokovic faces a far more intriguing start: The reigning Australian Open champion's first-round opponent is David Goffin, a 22-year-old Belgian who took a set off Federer in the fourth round in Paris last year after making it that far as a lucky loser.
No man has won the title at Roland Garros as many times as Nadal, who broke a tie with six-time champion Bjorn Borg by defeating Djokovic in last year's final and is 52-1 for his French Open career. Nadal also has reached the finals of all eight tournaments he's played in 2013.
But because the Spaniard missed about seven months with a left knee injury, his ranking slipped to No. 4, and the French Open decided not to bump him to a higher seeding.
If the tournament had placed Nadal at No. 2, he and No. 1 Djokovic only could have met in the final; instead, a Nadal-Djokovic rematch for the championship can't happen in 2013.
"I am very happy that I am back and I am healthy to play here another time," said Nadal, who has lost eight of his last 11 matches against Djokovic, including on clay in Monte Carlo last month.
Nadal is seeded No. 3 because second-ranked Andy Murray, the reigning U.S. Open champion, withdrew from the French Open with a back injury.
The possible men's quarterfinals are: Djokovic against No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic, his Davis Cup teammate for Serbia; Nadal against No. 7 Richard Gasquet of France; No. 2 Federer against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France; and No. 4 Ferrer against No. 5 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Berdych was drawn to face Gael Monfils of France in the first round, drawing groans from some members of the audience.
The last man from France to win the French Open was Yannick Noah in 1983, a 30-year gap mentioned more than once at Friday's ceremony.
Serena Williams wants to end her own, shorter drought in Paris — her lone French Open title came in 2002 — and her bid for a second championship will begin against 83rd-ranked Anna Tatishvili in the first round.
A year ago in Paris, Williams lost her opening match to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano, the American's only first-round loss in 50 career Grand Slam tournaments.
Williams is seeded No. 1 this year and is on a 24-match winning streak, the longest of her career.
Tatishvili, from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, is only 2-10 this season. She's also 0-2 at Roland Garros and 6-8 overall at Grand Slam tournaments. Williams, in contrast, has won 15 major titles.
The possible women's quarterfinals are: Williams against No. 8 Angelique Kerber, defending champion Maria Sharapova against No. 7 Petra Kvitova, No. 3 Victoria Azarenka against 2011 champion Li Na, and No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska against 2012 runner-up Sara Errani.
"It's very meaningful to come back as a defending champion. It means you have done something pretty good, and you're coming back into that position and you're trying to defend it," said Sharapova, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning last year's French Open. "I think it's one of the best honors you can have as a tennis player."
One noteworthy first-round matchup is No. 10 Caroline Wozniacki, who used to be No. 1, against 35th-ranked Laura Robson, a British teenager who reached the fourth round at last year's U.S. Open.
The French Open begins Sunday.
First-round matchups
Men
Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, vs. David Goffin, Belgium
Ivan Dodig, Croatia, vs. Guido Pella, Argentina
wc-Alex Kuznetsov, United States, vs. wc-Lucas Pouille, France
Alejandro Falla, Colombia, vs. Grigor Dimitrov (26), Bulgaria
Alexandr Dolgopolov (22), Ukraine, vs. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia
Bernard Tomic, Australia, vs. Victor Hanescu, Romania
Simone Bolelli, Italy, vs. Yen-hsun Lu, Taiwan
Qualifier vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (16), Germany
Tommy Haas (12), Germany, vs. Guillaume Rufin, France
Qualifier vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain
Andrey Kuznetsov, Russia, vs. Ryan Harrison, United States
Carlos Berlocq, Argentina, vs. John Isner (19), United States
Mikhail Youzhny (29), Russia, vs. Pablo Andujar, Spain
Federico Delbonis, Argentina, vs. Qualifier
Fernando Verdasco, Spain, vs. wc-Marc Gicquel, France
wc-Nicolas Mahut, France, vs. Janko Tipsarevic (8), Serbia
Rafael Nadal (3), Spain, vs. Daniel Brands, Germany
Martin Klizan, Slovakia, vs. Michael Russell, United States
Qualifier vs. Lukas Rosol, Czech Republic
Qualifier vs. Fabio Fognini (27), Italy
Benoit Paire (24), France, vs. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus
Lukasz Kubot, Poland, vs. Qualifier
Grega Zemlja, Slovenia, vs. Santiago Giraldo, Colombia
Jesse Levine, Canada, vs. Kei Nishikori (13), Japan
Stanislas Wawrinka (9), Switzerland, vs. Thiemo de Bakker, Netherlands
Qualifier vs. Horacio Zeballos, Argentina
Kenny de Schepper, France, vs. Robin Haase, Netherlands
Albert Ramos, Spain, vs. Jerzy Janowicz (21), Poland
Florian Mayer (28), Germany, vs. Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan
wc-Florent Serra, France, vs. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia
Qualifier vs. Qualifier
Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, vs. Richard Gasquet (7), France
Tomas Berdych (5), Czech Republic, vs. wc-Gael Monfils, France
Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, vs. Rogerio Dutra Silva, Brazil
Igor Sijsling, Netherlands, vs. Jurgen Melzer, Austria
Jurgen Zopp, Estonia, vs. Tommy Robredo (32), Spain
Andreas Seppi (20), Italy, vs. Leonardo Mayer, Argentina
Blaz Kavcic, Slovenia, vs. Qualifier
Martin Alund, Argentina, vs. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France
Qualifier vs. Nicolas Almagro (11), Spain
Milos Raonic (14), Canada, vs. Xavier Malisse, Belgium
Qualifier vs. Michael Llodra, France
Qualifier vs. Evgeny Donskoy, Russia
Qualifier vs. Kevin Anderson (23), South Africa
Marcel Granollers (31), Spain, vs. Feliciano Lopez, Spain
Joao Sousa, Portugal, vs. Go Soeda, Japan
Qualifier vs. Albert Montanes, Spain
Marinko Matosevic, Australia, vs. David Ferrer (4), Spain
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (6), France, vs. Aljaz Bedene, Slovenia
Jarkko Nieminen, Finland, vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu, France
Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain, vs. Gilles Muller, Luxembourg
Benjamin Becker, Germany, vs. Jeremy Chardy (25), France
Juan Monaco (17), Argentina, vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain
Viktor Troicki, Serbia, vs. James Blake, United States
Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, vs. wc-Nick Kyrgios, Australia
Philipp Petzschner, Germany, vs. Marin Cilic (10), Croatia
Gilles Simon (15), France, vs. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia
wc-Adrian Mannarino, France, vs. Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay
Jan Hajek, Czech Republic, vs. Qualifier
Lukas Lacko, Slovakia, vs. Sam Querrey (18), United States
Julien Benneteau (30), France, vs. Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania
Tobias Kamke, Germany, vs. Paolo Lorenzi, Italy
Qualifier vs. Qualifier
Qualifier vs. Roger Federer (2), Switzerland
Women
Serena Williams (1), United States, vs. Anna Tatishvili, Georgia
Qualifier vs. wc-Caroline Garcia, France
Monica Niculescu, Romania, vs. Johanna Larsson, Sweden
Kiki Bertens, Netherlands, vs. Sorana Cirstea (26), Romania
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (19), Russia, vs. Andrea Hlavackova, Czech Republic
Petra Cetkovska, Czech Republic, vs. Olga Puchkova, Russia
Qualifier vs. Qualifier
wc-Stephanie Foretz Gacon, France, vs. Roberta Vinci (15), Italy
Caroline Wozniacki (10), Denmark, vs. Laura Robson, Britain
Qualifier vs. Bojana Jovanovski, Serbia
Pauline Parmentier, France, vs. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia
Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, vs. Ekaterina Makarova (22), Russia
Varvara Lepchenko (29), United States, vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia
Romina Oprandi, Switzerland, vs. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
Jana Cepelova, Slovakia, vs. Christina McHale, United States
Mona Barthel, Germany, vs. Angelique Kerber (8), Germany
Agnieszka Radwanska (4), Poland, vs. Shahar Peer, Israel
Mallory Burdette, United States, vs. Donna Vekic, Croatia
Qualifier vs. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg
Urszula Radwanska, Poland, vs. Venus Williams (30), United States
Julia Goerges (24), Germany, vs. Qualifier
wc-Virginie Razzano, France, vs. wc-Claire Feuerstein, France
Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, vs. Mathilde Johansson, France
Petra Martic, Croatia, vs. Ana Ivanovic (14), Serbia
Nadia Petrova (11), Russia, vs. Monica Puig, Puerto Rico
Madison Keys, United States, vs. Misaki Doi, Japan
wc-Irena Pavlovic, France, vs. wc-Shelby Rogers, United States
Simona Halep, Romania, vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (20), Spain
Sabine Lisicki (32), Germany, vs. Sofia Arvidsson, Sweden
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, Spain, vs. Qualifier
Ayumi Morita, Japan, vs. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan
Arantxa Rus, Netherlands, vs. Sara Errani (5), Italy
Li Na (6), China, vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, vs. Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spain
Tatjana Maria, Germany, vs. Qualifier
CoCo Vandeweghe, United States, vs. Yaroslava Shvedova (27), Kazakhstan
Klara Zakopalova (23), Czech Republic, vs. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia
Stefanie Voegele, Switzerland, vs. Heather Watson, Britain
wc-Ashleigh Barty, Australia, vs. Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic
Nina Bratchikova, Portugal, vs. Maria Kirilenko (12), Russia
Marion Bartoli (13), France, vs. Olga Govortsova, Belarus
Kristyna Pliskova, Czech Republic, vs. Qualifier
Melinda Czink, Hungary, vs. Francesca Schiavone, Italy
Flavia Pennetta, Italy, vs. Kirsten Flipkens (21), Belgium
Alize Cornet (31), France, vs. Maria Joao Koehler, Portugal
Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania, vs. Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Spain
Qualifier vs. Annika Beck, Germany
Elena Vesnina, Russia, vs. Victoria Azarenka (3), Belarus
Petra Kvitova (7), Czech Republic, vs. wc-Aravane Rezai, France
Peng Shuai, China, vs. Camila Giorgi, Italy
Qualifier vs. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium
Jamie Hampton, United States, vs. Lucie Safarova (25), Czech Republic
Jelena Jankovic (18), Serbia, vs. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia
Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic, vs. Garbine Muguruza, Spain
Kristina Mladenovic, France, vs. Lauren Davis, United States
Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japan, vs. Sam Stosur (9), Australia
Dominika Cibulkova (16), Slovakia, vs. Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine
Marina Erakovic, New Zealand, vs. Elena Baltacha, Britain
Qualifier vs. Alexandra Cadantu, Romania
Karin Knapp, Italy, vs. Sloane Stephens (17), United States
Tamira Paszek (28), Austria, vs. Melanie Oudin, United States
Zheng Jie, China, vs. Vesna Dolonc, Serbia
Eugenie Bouchard, Canada, vs. Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria
Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, vs. Maria Sharapova (2), Russia