THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — After a loss to Roger Federer and a four-hour struggle to beat Novak Djokovic in his two most recent matches, four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal got a bit of good news Friday from the French Open draw.
Federer and Djokovic are lined up to meet in the semifinals, meaning the top-seeded Nadal could only face one or the other in the final as he bids to become the first man to win the clay-court Grand Slam tournament five consecutive years.
Not that Nadal is looking ahead to a potential final against one of those two. Or even a possible semifinal against No. 3 Andy Murray. Indeed, the Spaniard won’t even acknowledge he feels any sort of pressure to add to his 28-0 record at Roland Garros, where play starts Sunday.
"My only pressure is try to play good tennis, try to play well, and later we will see what happens," Nadal said. "The tournament is always really tough. Long matches, against the best players of the world. So we will see."
Federer reiterated Friday that he got "a big boost" from winning last weekend’s Madrid Open final, ending Nadal’s 33-match winning streak on clay. Djokovic, meanwhile, derives confidence from having held three match points in a narrow semifinal loss to Nadal in Madrid.
"Getting closer and closer. So there’s only one more point to go," said Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion. "I played probably one of the best matches in my life against him on the clay court, even though I lost it. I must be proud of myself."
Federer, too, took heart from seeing what happened in that semifinal.
"When someone dominates a surface like Rafa does, it’s good to see that he almost lost to Djokovic — that it’s doable, if you play well," Federer said. "If each year he wins 40 matches on clay, and you never manage to beat him, it’s obvious that you become more pessimistic."
Federer’s bid to win his first French Open championship — and tie Pete Sampras with a record 14th major singles title — will start against Alberto Martin of Spain.
Nadal was drawn to face qualifier Marcos Daniel of Brazil in the first round and could meet two-time major champion Lleyton Hewitt in the third, then 14th-seeded David Ferrer in the fourth.
Murray’s first opponent is Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, a 2004 French Open quarter-finalist whose four career tour titles all came on clay and who once was ranked 15th. Chela missed the past three major tournaments because of a herniated disc.
"He’s obviously a tough clay-court player," Murray said. "Definitely can’t afford to look past him."
The potential men’s quarter-finals are Nadal versus No. 8 Fernando Verdasco in what would be rematch of a five-set thriller in the Australian Open semis, Murray versus No. 7 Gilles Simon, Federer versus No. 6 Andy Roddick, and Djokovic versus No. 5 Juan Martin Del Potro.
The possible women’s quarter-finals are No. 1 Dinara Safina versus defending champion Ana Ivanovic, No. 3 Venus Williams versus No. 6 Vera Zvonareva, No. 2 Serena Williams versus No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and No. 4 Elena Dementieva versus No. 5 Jelena Jankovic.
Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., is seeded 24th and will face Monica Niculescu of Romania in the first round. On the men’s side, Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., advanced through the qualifying draw and will open the main draw against Philipp Petzschner of Germany.
Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic are the top-ranked doubles team. The doubles draw will be held Monday.
.The Williams sisters were drawn into opposite sides of the tournament and could meet in the championship match. Serena beat Venus in the 2002 final for the family’s only singles title at Roland Garros; they have won 16 majors elsewhere.
Safina starts against Anne Keothavong of Britain, while Maria Sharapova will play Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus in her first Grand Slam match since Wimbledon last year. Sharapova returned to the tour this week after missing nearly 10 months due to a shoulder injury and is not seeded.
The second-seeded Serena will meet Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic in the first round, while No. 3 Venus faces Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S.
Serena won the last two Grand Slam tournaments, but has lost her past four matches while dealing with a bad knee.
"I don’t think I’m the favourite coming in," she said. "I’m glad to be here more than anything."
.——= Associated Press Writer Trung Latieule contributed to this report.