Tag : Jordan

Paris: World No. 1 and defending champion, Novak Djokovic, will have his task cut out at the French Open beginning on May 22 as he could face 13-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, with the Spanish fifth seed drawn in the same quarter as the Serb. Also, talented Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz joins the two stalwarts in the top half as the sixth seed, and could face Djokovic or Nadal in the semifinals. Alcaraz, who will be making his second appearance at the clay-court Grand Slam, has been placed in third seed, Germanys Alexander Zverev's quarter. Russia's Daniil Medvedev anchors the draw on its bottom line, with fourth seed from Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third quarter alongside eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway. Russia's Andrey Rublev, seeded seventh, is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Medvedev, according to atptour.com. Speaking at the draw ceremony, Djokovic expressed his happiness at the full return of fans at the second major of the year. "It's amazing to see the amount of people that came this week during the qualifying week and also at the practice sessions," the Serb was quoted as saying by atptour.com. "A lot of people on the centre court and on Court Suzanne Leglen as well. It's fantastic to see that because you can see how much they miss tennis, how much they are passionate and how much they love this sport. And of course for us players, it's an incredible feeling to have the crowd. "Particularly for me at this stage of my career, they are one of the main factors of why I still play professional tennis and why I compete. The energy that you get from the crowd, the excitement is something very important for us." Djokovic will open against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka and could face Diego Sch ...