Djokovic, Nadal Headline Thursday Play At Roland Garros
Djokovic, Nadal Headline Thursday Play At Roland Garros
The pair are still on course for their blockbuster semi-final
The top half of the men’s singles draw will take to the court on Thursday for their second-round singles matches at Roland Garros, with No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal highlighting the day’s action.
Djokovic continues his quest for the career Grand Slam as he takes on qualifier Steve Darcis of Belgium. The Serbian is in top form, having dropped just five games in his opening-round match. Nadal also continues his quest for a 10th Roland Garros title when he plays Facundo Bagnis of Argentina. Nadal was even more ruthless in his first-round match, dropping just three games.
No. 6 seed and local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. The Frenchman leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 6-1. No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych also continues his quest for another deep run at Roland Garros when he plays Malek Jaziri of Tunisia.
No. 11 seed David Ferrer aims to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the 12th straight year when he plays Juan Monaco of Argentina. Their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry is currently split at 4-4. No. 12 seed David Goffin will have his first meeting against Carlos Berlocq of Argentina when they take to the court.
Two other top players will look to reach the second week at Roland Garros for the first time in their careers. No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem takes on veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, while No. 14 seed Roberto Bautista Agut plays wild card Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.
A pair of #NextGen players are also hoping to keep their breakthrough runs going. Wild card Quentin Halys of France faces off against No. 25 seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, while Alexander Zverev of Germany takes to the court in a battle of experience versus youth against 36-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert.
Another intriguing matchup on Thursday will see former French Open semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia take on No. 26 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal.