French Open Draws

The draw for the men’s singles was made on Friday morning in Paris, and while defending champion Roger Federer and four-time winner Rafael Nadal avoided any early potential pitfalls, No.4 seed Andy Murray got the draw that nobody wanted – Richard Gasquet in the first round.

The Frenchman, a onetime world No.7, plummeted to 82nd in the world after being banned after a drugs incident last year but climbed 14 places last week when he won in Bordeaux - on clay. He and Murray have not met since an epic Wimbledon battle two years ago which the Scotsman came from behind to win, but Gasquet leads the head-to-head 2-1. While Murray will start favourite, he has never made a final on clay and Gasquet, tellingly, has been involved in four.

World No.1 Federer will take on Australian No.2 Peter Luczak in the first round and then may well take on Janko Tipsarevic, before potential third and fourth round ties against No.27 seed Feliciano Lopez and either No.13 Gaël Monfils, whom he beat in the semis here two years ago and the quarters in 2009, or fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

2005-2008 champion Rafael Nadal has what looks like an easy opening to the tournament. He faces French teenager and wild card Gianni Mina in the first round before a potential fourth meeting on French clay with Lleyton Hewitt in round three, having defeated him in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Should he get that far (and most presume he will…), then Nadal has No.3 seed Novak Djokovic in his half of the draw, while Federer has Murray.

Other big potential match-ups include the battle of the Fernandos between No.7 Verdasco and No.12 Gonzalez in the fourth round, while No.10 Marin Cilic could well face rising/resurgent star Ernests Gulbis (No.23) as early as the third round.

The draw for the women’s singles also took place on Friday, with all eyes on where the No.22 seed would land. Four-time champion Justine Henin, back in Paris after a two-year absence, will not have everything her own way if she is to pursue her unbeaten streak at Roland Garros which stands at 21 matches, after winning the title in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and then retiring just before the 2008 edition. The Belgian will have to get past No.12 Maria Sharapova in the third round, No.7 Sam Stosur in the fourth and then world No.1 Serena Williams in the quarters.

Henin and Williams have met on 14 occasions in the past, Serena leading 8-6 including a three-set win in this year’s Australian Open final. Henin leads 4-1 on red dirt however, including wins here in 2003 and 2007 – both times going on to win the title afterwards.

Both Serena and Venus, the No.2 seed, have Swiss opposition in the first round, Serena facing Stefanie Vögele and Venus taking on veteran lefty Patty Schnyder. Holder and No.6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova will have to take on Sorana Cirstea, who made it through to the second week here last year, in her opening tie, while No.10 Victoria Azarenka also faces a tough battle against Argentina’s Gisela Dulko. 2008 winner Ana Ivanovic has avoided the worst of the seeds in her section of the group but could face Jelena Jankovic for the second time in less than a month in the quarters (the No.4 seed defeating her fellow Serb in Madrid), or alternatively No.9 seed Dinara Safina, finalist here the last two years.