By Chris Oddo | Friday May 20, 2016
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were drawn into the same half of the Roland Garros draw on Friday.
Photo Source: AP
Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal could meet top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinals at Roland Garros.
See the Complete Roland Garros Men's Singles Draw Here
The 2016 men’s singles draw, released early on Friday, paints a trickier route to the semifinals for Nadal, as the Spaniard could face his old nemesis Fabio Fognini in the third round and rising Austrian Dominic Thiem in the round of 16.
Since the beginning of 2015, Nadal and Fognini have split six matches. Thiem defeated Nadal in the semifinals at Buenos Aires this year, but Nadal returned the favor at Monte-Carlo.
Nadal opens with a tilt with hard-serving Aussie Sam Groth.
Djokovic’s quest for a first Roland Garros title will begin with Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round and a qualifier in the second round. He could face 31st-seeded Federico Delbonis in the third round and, if the seeds hold, 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the round of 16 and 7th-seeded Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals.
Second-seeded Andy Murray was drawn into the same quarter as 5th-seeded Kei Nishikori, while 4th-seeded and defending champion Stan Wawrinka was drawn into the same quarter as 8th-seeded Milos Raonic.
Murray opens with a qualifier while Raonic faces Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic in the first round.
Among the notable first-round matchups in this year’s draw are Borna Coric vs. Taylor Fritz and Nicolas Almagro vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber.