By Chris Oddo | Saturday, April 12, 2014

 

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were drawn into the same half of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

Photo Source: AP

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer could meet in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Saturday's draw revealed.

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Djokovic, who attended the draw ceremony with his new coach Boris Becker in tow, ended the eight-year reign of Rafael Nadal at Monte-Carlo in last year's final. The World No. 2 could face Benoit Paire in the second round and Gael Monfils in the third. Potential quarterfinal matchups for the Serb are Tomas Berdych, Alexandr Dolgopolov or Ernests Gulbis.

Nadal could face Gilles Simon in the second round, and could face either David Ferrer or Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard owns a 48-2 career record in the principality, and is just two matches away from his 300th career clay-court win.

Federer took a late wild card into Monte-Carlo, and will play the event for the first time since 2011. He could face hard-serving Ivo Karlovic in the second round and Jerzy Janowicz in the third round. In the quarterfinals, Federer could face either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Fabio Fognini.

Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka will have a tricky second-round encounter with either Fernando Verdasco or Marin Cilic. Milos Raonic is the next highest-seeded player in Wawrinka's quarter, which is in Nadal's half of the draw.

First-round encounters between Ernests Gulbis and Alexandr Dolgopolov and Marcel Granollers and Grigor Dimitrov should keep things interesting early in the week.

Djokovic is bidding for his fifth consecutive Masters 1000 crown at the event, while Nadal is bidding to win a record 27th Masters title.

One of tennis' big four—featuring Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray—has won 34 of the last 36 Masters 1000 events.

See the full draw here