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'Ridiculous': Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in 'absurd' French Open farce

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·3-min read
Rafa Nadal (pictured left) looking at his player's box, and Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (pictured right) passing each other.
Rafa Nadal (pictured left), Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (pictured right) have been all drawn on the same side of a Grand Slam for the first time ever. (Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been dealt a brutal path to the Roland Garros final after landing on the same side of the draw for the first time ever.

The NextGen will be licking their lips after many avoided 13-time French Open champion Nadal and World No.1 Djokovic in a crazy draw, which is expected to offer an exciting match-up before the final.

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The return of Federer at Grand Slams will also offer up another tantalising clash if the Swiss maestro finds form.

World No.1 Djokovic is seeded No.1, while 13-time champion Nadal is seeded No.3, with the French Open adhering to the ATP Rankings.

Thursday's draw in Paris marks the first time in their long and distinguished careers that the trio with 58 grand slam singles titles between them have ended on the same side of the bracket at any slam.

It means that no more than one of them can reach the final at Roland Garros, where play begins on Sunday.

With the unprecedented draw for the 'Big Three', a mouth-watering quarter-final could look like: Djokovic v Federer, Nadal v Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev v Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas v Daniil Medvedev.

Nadal's form heading into Roland Garros

Nadal beat Djokovic in straight sets in the 2020 final for his record-extending 13th championship on the French Open's red clay, but if they meet again this time, it would have to be in the semifinals.

Nadal heads into the French Open with the best form on clay of the 'Big Three' after defeating Djokovic in Rome and also winning the Barcelona Open.

Federer, whose record for most weeks at No.1 in the ATP rankings recently was broken by Djokovic, turns 40 on the 8th of August, Nadal's 35th birthday is next week; Djokovic's 34th was last week.

Federer is currently ranked No.8 after playing only three matches over the past 15 months because of two operations on his right knee.

with AAP

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