‘It’s Great News For Carlos Alcaraz’

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were drawn into the same quarter at the French Open, while red-hot 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz shares the same half of the draw.

In an ideal world for Alcaraz, the two tennis legends would beat each other up in the quarters before he faces the winner in the semifinals with a chance to compete in his first Grand Slam final.

“It’s great news for Alcaraz,” ESPN analyst and former Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe said. “He only has to beat one of them (after they’ve gone through the other) and not in a final.”

In his last tournament in Madrid, Alcaraz became the first man to beat Nadal and Djokovic in the same clay court tournament. He then crushed world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in straight sets in the final to capture his second Masters 1000 title (Miami).

Still, those events were best-of-3 sets, while Roland Garros is best-of-5 and is a different animal. Alcaraz has never been past the quarterfinals of a major.

“I think I am ready to win a Grand Slam,” Alcaraz said in Madrid. “This is my goal for the year. I will work for it and let’s what happens at the French Open.”

“I think he’s going to win one of the next four majors, I think he’s going to be the first teen to win one since Nadal did,” former world No. 1 Jim Courier said on Tennis Channel. “We’ll see, we’ll see.”

Because Nadal, the 13-time Roland Garros winner and 21-time Grand Slam champion, is ranked No. 5 in the world, he was drawn to potentially meet his longtime rival Djokovic, the defending champion who trails him by one with 20 Slams, in the quarters.

Roland Garros could have opted to seed Nadal higher than 5.

“This draw brings up the familiar question yet again, should majors (Wimbledon does already) use the official rankings as just a part of the computation in determining seedlings,” McEnroe said.

Nadal, who is dealing with a “chronic” foot injury that says makes him limp” many days of my life,” won the Australian Open after Djokovic was deported ahead of the tournament he has won nine times because of his failure to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

But Nadal has not won a clay court tournament heading into Paris. His draw looks especially brutal with veterans like Stan Wawrinka and Fabio Fognini and young guyns like Reilly Opelka or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the way before a possible trifecta of Djokovic, Alcaraz and then Stefanos Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev in the final

Djokovic, meantime, is coming off winning Rome and looks to be back in form after not playing much early in the season. McEnroe called Djokovic the favorite on a recent Podcast with me.

Djokovic is the defending champion in Paris after ousting Nadal in an epic semifinal a year ago that ended Nadal’s 35-match winning streak at the event, and then coming back from 0-2 down against Tsitsipas in the final to capture his 19th major title.

Courier, the four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, says of Djokovic: “I think he’s perfectly primed [for Roland Garros]. He’s erased the questions that are now all of sudden firmly in front of Rafa Nadal.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2022 French Open:

Schedule

• First Round, May 22-24
• Second Round, May 25-26
• Third Round, May 27-28
• Fourth Round, May 29-30
• Quarterfinals, May 31 – June 1
• Women’s Semifinals, June 2
• Men’s Semifinals, June 3
• Women’s Final, June 4
• Men’s Final, June 5