With four of the favorites in the same part of the draw, the men’s draw held its share of surprises on Thursday May 19 at Roland-Garros. The last winners, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, could face each other in the quarter-finals, just like Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz. In the other part of the table, Stefanos Tsitsipas could face the Norwegian Casper Ruud (seeded number 8) in the quarters, while Daniil Medvedev could see his compatriot Andrey Rublev stand in his way.
While the first two seeds are traditionally protected, only being able to meet in the final, the draw, carried out by biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet, still reserved a tough table for defending champion Novak Djokovic. The world number 1 must start his tournament against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka. He could find Diego Schwartzman in the round of 16, perhaps before Rafael Nadal, then Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev in the half.
The Spaniard, for his part, will be opposed to the Australian Jordan Thompson in the first round, and could find the young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at the start of the second week. In the same draw game, Zverev and Alcaraz will each start the tournament against one of the 19 qualifiers.
The four parts of the painting of this #RolandGarros 2022! Some lessons:
Djokovic, Nadal and Alcaraz in the same half of the table
Potentiel Djokovic vs Nadal in 1/4 finale
Tsonga vs Ruud [8] and Simon vs Carreno Busta [16] for their last Roland pic.twitter.com/Pf8PVwNRjh— Game, Set and Maths (@JeuSetMaths) May 19, 2022
In the other part of the table, Stefanos Tsitsipas will start the tournament against the promising Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 57th in the world, and present in the second week last year. The Greek could find Denis Shapovalov in the round of 16. Daniil Medvedev will be opposed to the Argentinian Facundo Bagnis for his entry into the running.
In the absence of Gaël Monfils, who forfeited Roland-Garros, no Frenchman is among the top seeds this year. The Tricolores therefore inherit a difficult draw, like Corentin Moutet, who will face the winner in 2015, Stan Wawrinka, before a potential meeting against Rafael Nadal. Quentin Halys and Manuel Guinard will be opposed respectively to John Isner, seeded number 23, and Cameron Norrie (No. 10).
In the other part of the table, Benjamin Bonzi will face Frances Tiafoe, seeded number 24, and Hugo Gaston will meet the Australian Alex De Minaur (No. 19). Luckier in the draw, Lucas Pouille will face a qualifier, Ugo Humbert will be opposed to Emil Ruusuvuori (61st at the ATP), Richard Gasquet will challenge Lloyd Harris (37th) and Benoit Paire will play against the Russian Ilya Ivashka (50th).
Finally, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon, who will play their last Roland-Garros, will be opposed respectively to two big seeds: Casper Ruud (8th) and Pablo Carreno-Busta (17th).
