The draw for the 2013 edition of the French Open has been released! With the news earlier in the week that World #3
Andy Murray was withdrawing from the tournament due to a back injury all eyes are on where World #4 (#3 seed and 7-time champion)
Rafael Nadal would end up in the draw. It turns out that
last year's champion is in the same half of the draw as World #1
Novak Djokovic, meaning that
a reprise of last year's final is not possible, but a reprise of
the 2011 final between Nadal and Roger Federer. The
men's French Open tennis odds indicate that Nadal is
the clear favorite against the field, with 8:11 odds. However, since a Djokovic-Nadal final is not going to happen,
there are also odds for the various possible finals: Federer-Nadal (7:2), Ferrer-Nadal (11:2), Federer-Djokovic (17:2) and Ferrer-Djokovic (11:1). The possibility of some other combination is 8:11. So, curiously, the oddsmakers think that it is likely Nadal will win the tournament
and they also think that it is just as likely that someone from the field will win the tournament. Federer has basically a dream draw and should have no problem reaching the quarterfinal against
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
On
the women's side of the draw,
defending champion World #2
Maria Sharapova is in the other half of the draw from the clear favorite World #1
Serena Williams. World #3 (and
2013 Australian Open champion)
Victoria Azarenka is in Sharapova's half of the draw, as are
2011 French Open champion Li Na and
2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
Interesting first round match-ups are
Aravane Rezai versus
Kvitova,
Caroline Wozniacki versus
Laura Robson, Mona Barthel versus
Angelique Kerber and 2009 French Open champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova versus
Ekaterina Makarova.
On the men's side the first round matches to watch are
Gael Monfils versus #5 seed
Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic versus
Xavier Malisse, and
Marcel Granollers and
Feliciano Lopez.
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