ONE FOR THE ALBUM: Maria Sharapova of Russia, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams of the US and Switzerland’s Roger Federer pose for a group snap during an exhibition game for children, at Malakoff, a Paris suburb, on Thursday. French Open, the year’s second Grand Slam, begins at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris from tomorrow. (AFP)
Reuters/Paris
Defending French Open champion Rafael Nadal was drawn in the same half as world number one Novak Djokovic yesterday as the Spanish clay-court machine chases a record eighth title at Roland Garros.
Third seed Nadal, who beat Djokovic in last year’s final, could face the Serbian in the semis. “But it’s not in the first round, no?” Nadal joked when asked how he felt about his potential meeting with Djokovic.
Nadal has won five titles on clay this season after missing more than seven months of tennis and sitting out of the US and Australian Opens. “If you ask me if I want to win one Grand Slam during the whole year or win six tournaments like I already did, I will choose win six tournaments,” he said.
Nadal plays Daniel Brands of Germany in the first round and could face home hope Richard Gasquet in a potential quarter-final clash as the Frenchman looks to end a 30-year Grand Slam title drought.
Djokovic, who opens his Paris campaign against Belgian David Goffin, is also lined up for a possible third-round match against talented Bulgarian youngster Grigor Dimitrov.
Swiss Roger Federer, who has a record 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, has a smooth-looking path until a potential quarter-final against French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
World number two Andy Murray pulled out with back problems and Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, ranked seventh, is also missing from the draw due to illness.
On the women’s side, defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia, the second seed, is in the same half as Belarussian third seed Victoria Azarenka.
World number one Serena Williams could meet Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the fourth seed, in the semi-finals.
Williams will take on Georgia’s Anna Tatishvili in the first round on her way to a potential quarter-final match-up with former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who will start against Britain’s Laura Robson.
Asked if she felt as good as in her golden years, Williams said: “I think so. Just looking back at a few of my matches years ago and looking now, I definitely feel like I’m getting into that zone that I have always wanted to be in, and I feel a lot better about it.”
Sharapova’s main threat could come from Australian ninth seed Samantha Stosur, the 2010 runner-up, in a possible quarter-final.
Sharapova, who was drawn against Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei in the first round, withdrew from the Italian Open because of illness last week, but said she is now fine. “I have been practising for almost five or six days now, which has been nice,” she said. “I haven’t been back since my victory (at the French Open), so it has been nice.”
Federer finally joins Twitter, draws 170,000 followers in 12 hours
Roger Federer yesterday became part of the Twitter generation, gaining in excess of 170,000 followers within half a day of sending his first tweet.
The second seed at the French Open was a relative latecomer to the social media scene, but looks likely to quickly catch up with Serb Novak Djokovic,
who can boast more than 1.8 million followers.
Federer said he approached the Twitter verse with caution but is now happy to try it out.
“It’s early stages, clearly, so we’ll see how much I’ll do,” said the Swiss ace as he prepares for the clay-court major which he won in 2009, interrupting the string of success of rival Rafael Nadal.
“It’s really connecting with the fans on a different platform than what I’ve done in the past. I wanted to see, just myself, how does it really work for the other players and other athletes and other people around the world,” the 17-times Grand Slam winner added.
Federer has been communicating on a modest basis on Facebook and through his website and charity
foundation. Adding the popular Twitter platform seemed only logical.
“I wasn’t sure in the beginning, to be honest. For me to enter that right away was not the right thing to do. I wanted to first wait and see and only do it when I felt very comfortable and not get pushed into it by someone.
“At the end of the day, it’s got to be something I needed to feel comfortable with, and I did get many comments from many fans and followers that they would love to see me on Twitter.
“I said, ‘Okay, I’m happy to give it a try and have some fun with it.’ At the end of the day, that’s why I’m doing it. We’ll see how it goes. We will see how much I will do in the future,” he explained.
Federer fans have for more than a year been entertained by PseudoFed
(“Not Roger Federer”) account, a clever parody of the great man himself with just under 20,000 followers, whose authors remain a mystery.