By Chris Oddo | Friday, May 2, 2014

 

Defending champion Rafael Nadal will be joined by Roger Federer and Andy Murray in a stacked section of next week's Madrid Open draw.

Photo Source: Julian Finney/ Getty

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been drawn into the same half of the Mutua Madrid Open draw, and Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov will join them in a stacked section at the second clay-court Masters event of 2014.

Madrid: No. 1 Ranking on the Line for Nadal

Nadal, a three-time champion in Madrid, will bid to keep his No. 1 ranking by opening his bid against either Jurgen Melzer or Juan Monaco in the second round after a first-round bye. The Spaniard, who recently fell before the final in back-to-back weeks on clay for the first time since 2004, could meet Tommy Haas in the round of 16 and either Berdych or Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.

Federer could face Benoit Paire in the second round before a potential rematch with Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the round of 16. Robredo famously ended a 10-match losing streak against Federer at last year's U.S. Open, picking up his first career win against the Swiss maestro in straight sets in the fourth round.

Federer could face Murray in the quarterfinals, but the Scot will be tested by the likes of Nicolas Almagro (2nd round) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (possible 3rd round) in his section of the draw. Murray has yet to begin his clay-court campaign, electing for a longer training block instead of playing smaller events in April.

The Curse of Defeating Rafael Nadal Before the Final

In the lower half of the draw, second-seeded Novak Djokovic could face Marin Cilic in the second round and either Alexandr Dolgopolov or Fabio Fognini or Ernests Gulbis in the round of 16. Fifth-seeded David Ferrer could await the Serb in the quarterfinals, while third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, a finalist in Madrid last year, could face Milos Raonic in the other lower-half quarterfinal.

Raonic will have to work to get there, as he'll likely face Kei Nishikori in the round of 16 with a spot in the quarterfinal on the line. Nishikori won his first career clay-court title last week at the Barcelona Open.

Either Nadal, Federer or Djokovic has won the event in each of the last five years.