The Roland Garros Draw is out.
Rafael Nadal will start his French Open defence against American, Robby Ginepri. If Rafa wins, he will play the winner of Paul Henri Mathieu and Dominic Thiem in the second round.
Our champion, who has a 59-1 record on Parisian clay courts, was drawn in the same quarter as David Ferrer, and the same half as Stan Wawrinka. His potential final opponents include Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Top half projected R16s:
Nadal-Haas, Dimitrov-Ferrer, Wawrinka-Fognini, Gasquet-Murray.
Bottom half projected R16s:
Berdych-Isner, Youzhny-Federer, Raonic-Nishikori, Tsonga-Djokovic.
Rafa has eight wins in Paris. He is the reigning champion, having beat David Ferrer in the 2013 finals. Good luck Rafa!
You will always be number 1 on every surface but especially on clay. We love you and want you to be there for now and years to come. Stay well and strong and as Agassi has already said – you will certainly go down in history as the best ever!!! All your fans in South Africa send love, hugs and cheers!
VAAAMOOO999 RAAAAAFAAAA VAAAM999SSS!!!!! GOD WILL BE WITH U!!!
I really hope Benito reads the comments and convey our love to Rafa. Vamos Rafa.
Well, I really do wish Rafa good luck and divine intervention. He’s gonna need all the miracles cos the signs are really ominous! However, there is always the unpredictable ‘hand of God’ in this type of situations. Hence, it may at the end of the day turn that both Rafa and Novak may not win the trophy. Who knows? Rafa neeeds to pray vey, very hard……….. Even in mumerology, the number 9 stands for WAR!
So, Rafa needs to be fully battle-readyfor WAR if he wants to win the Roland Garros for the 9th time!
take gud cre always and Godbless idol RAFA…
First I heard on this page that Rafa is still suffering pain in his knees…that is not good news as we head into the French Open…He has had enough to contend with, just his game alone has been a struggle, its been more of a ‘mental challenge’ for him, with his self doubts after a few losses, it take him time to find himself again, and he is getting better, as he proved against Andy Murray….but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final at Rome. I hope he can turn it around in PARIS…They will fight it out for the number one ranking, which Novak will win if Nadal does not reach the semi finals, and if Novak reached the qtr finals Nadal would need to win the title to stay no 1…..I don’t think Nadal worries too much about his ranking, when you consider that for the 13 years he has been playing he has been ranked number 1 and 2 for most of that time….that is ‘remarkable’ and ‘an outstanding achievement”
which tends to be forgotten most of the time by the ‘media’ who dwell on his little misfortunes when he has a loss now and then in a 3 setter, on his way to the grandslams, and we need to be reminded that he has won 13, seven more then Novak, and we are always reminded that Novak has beaten Rafa 8/3 on clay I think it is, but Rafa still holds the upper hand in head to head something like 22/16 or thereabouts…..so CMON RAFA GET YOURSELF ALL TOGETHER AND COME OUT FIRING IN PARIS, LET YOUR SELF DOUBTS GO TO THE FOUR WINDS….REGAIN YOUR CONFIDENCE BE STRONG IN MIND AND GO FOR IT YOU CAN DO IT …..GOOD LUCK AND VAMOS RAFA..
Good Luck! 🍀🍀🍀 Vamos, Rafa!