The 2011 Roland Garros draw has been released and one of our staff writers offers his take on who will make the quarterfinals and who will be sent packing in the first four rounds.
Friday May 20th saw the end of the qualifying tournament at Roland Garros 2011 and the main draw for the event was also released. This year, more than in recent years, Rafael Nadal is not considered a heavy favorite heading into the draw as many are divided between the Spaniard and Novak Djokovic, the world number two.
Djokovic has defeated Nadal in all four matches that they have played in during the 2011 calendar year and that includes two wins on clay from Rome and Madrid.
Nadal and Djokovic, as the top two seeds at the 2011 French Open, would not meet until a final and should that match take place, it looks like it would be a coin toss.
Saving speculation for the very late rounds for later in the tournament here are my predictions for who the quarterfinalists will be at Roland Garros 2011.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs (5) Robin Soderling
(4) Andy Murray vs (11) Nicolas Almagro
(9) Gael Monfils vs (3) Roger Federer
(6) Tomas Berdych vs (2) Novak Djokovic
The only two players who are not top eight by seeding in the above list are Nicolas Almagro and Gael Monfils.
Almagro has had a disappointing clay court season so far however he is into the final at ATP Nice where he will face Victor Hanescu on Saturday. A title there would be the Spaniard's 10th clay court title in his career and that has to give him some confidence heading to Paris a tournament where he has twice made the quarterfinals.
Almagro gets the nod in a section of the draw where Jurgen Melzer is the quarterfinalist by seed as the Austrian veteran, who turns 30 the day the tournament starts, retired from his first match in Rome and lost to Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the second round of Madrid.
Gael Monfils has some strong results from the French Open as he made the semifinals in 2008, his best Slam performance. The Frenchman shares a path to the quarters with David Ferrer of Spain, a very good clay courter but one who seems to disappoint in Roland Garros time and time again.
Monfils has a very fluffy draw through the first three rounds of Roland Garros as he can face no one better than Michael Llodra, a 31 year old who could easily fall in the first round just as he has in eight of the past eleven years.
