Singles draw has been made for the second Grand Slam of the season, the Roland Garros, taking place in Paris, from May 25 to June 8, 2014.
The French Open first round matches will be played during the first three days of the competition. Main courts are Philippe Chatrier, Suzanne Lenglen and Court no.1.
World no.2 and second seed Novak Djokovic will open his campaign against no.42-ranked Joao Sousa (POR) on Monday (about 13.00 CET). It will be their second career meeting (H2H 1-0).
The six-time Major champion might face either Jeremy Chardy (FRA) or Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) in the second round.
Novak’s potential rivals in the later stages of the tournament are:
3rd round: Marin Cilic (CRO, 25)
4th round: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA, 13), Jerzy Janowicz (POL, 22)
Quarter-finals: Milos Raonic (CAN, 8), Kei Nishikori (JPN, 9)
Semi-finals: Roger Federer (SUI, 4), Tomas Berdych (CZE, 6), Tommy Robredo (ESP, 17)
Finals: Rafael Nadal (ESP, 1), Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI, 3), David Ferrer (ESP, 5), Andy Murray (GBR, 7)
“I m healthy and very motivated to give the maximum in Paris,“ Novak said. “I played some epic matches against Rafa, especially the one last year in the semi-finals. We went the distance. I think it was 9-7 in the fifth. So even though it was a tough loss for me and I was putting a lot of emotional effort into winning it last year, I still take the positives from that tournament. Knowing that I have got closer and closer each year to the title gives me enough reason to be confident for the start of this year. The Rome title and winning against Nadal on clay is something that doesn’t happen every day. Wawrinka also deserves to be considered as one of the favorites to win the title because he’s had great results this year.“
Roland Garros is the only Major trophy Djokovic still hasn’t won. Should he succeed, he would join an elite group of eight players in completing the career Grand Slam.
It will be Novak’s tenth appearance on Parisian clay (36-9 record).
Last year, the Belgrade native fell to the eight-time winner and defending champion Rafael Nadal, 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-9 in a 4 hours and 37 minutes long marathon semi-finals.
Photo: AP
