Players Learn Fate Friday In Roland Garros Draw

The 2017 Roland Garros draw ceremony will begin on Friday at 12 noon local time (11 a.m. BST).

Novak Djokovic, who completed the career Grand Slam with his first Roland Garros title in 2016 (d. Murray), is the second seed. The Serbian, who has a 12-9 record in Grand Slam championship finals, also finished runner-up on Parisian clay in 2012, 2014 (l. to Nadal both times) and 2015 (l. to Wawrinka). Djokovic is seeking his first tour-level title since lifting the Qatar ExxonMobil Open crown (d. Murray) in January.

Last year, Andy Murray became the first Briton to reach the Roland Garros final since Henry Austin in 1937, on the back of a title run at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Djokovic). The World No. 1, reunited this week with Ivan Lendl, has a 16-7 match record in 2017, including the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships trophy (d. Verdasco).

Rafael Nadal, a winner of 10 titles at both the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, plus a fifth title at the Mutua Madrid Open in 2017, seeks ‘La Decima’ at Roland Garros, where he has an incredible 72-2 record. Last year, he withdrew ahead of his third-round match due to a left wrist injury.

Stan Wawrinka, currently competing in Geneva where he is the defending champion, is 18-8 on the year, but will be hoping to evoke memories of his 2015 Roland Garros title run and 2016 semi-final finish. The Swiss was runner-up to compatriot Roger Federer at the BNP Paribas Open in March.

Kei Nishikori competes at Roland Garros for the seventh time hoping to better his 2015 quarter-final run (l. to Tsonga in five sets).