By Daily Sports on May 24, 2019

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were placed in the same half of the draw for the French Open on Thursday meaning the two longtime rivals could meet in the semifinals.

Second seed Nadal is chasing a 12th title in Paris while 2009 champion Federer, seeded three, is playing in the tournament for the first time since 2015.

Nadal starts against qualifiers in the first two rounds while 37-year-old Federer, bidding to become the oldest Grand Slam title winner of all time, faces Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, ranked at 73.

Top seed and world No 1 Novak Djokovic starts his campaign against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the world number 43.

Djokovic, the 2016 champion, is bidding to become only the second man in history to hold all four Slams at the same time.

Only Rod Laver, who swept to calendar Slams in 1962 and 1969, has previously achieved the feat.

If the seedings work out for the quarterfinals, then 15-time major winner Djokovic would face Germany’s Alexander Zverev who has still to get past the last eight at a Slam.

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem, the 2018 runner-up to Nadal, would face Argentine eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro while Federer would meet Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek who stunned him at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal, who won his first title of 2019 in Rome last weekend against a weary Djokovic, is seeded to face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the last-eight. (SuperSport)

•Photo shows Nadal and Federer

Source Daily Sports

Posted May 24, 2019

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