Roger Federer receives a favorable draw at French Open

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic were drawn in the same quarter of the Roland Garros draw on Friday.

Nadal, who is 66-1 at the clay-court major championship, could potentially meet Djokovic in a blockbuster quarter-final. It is a result of Nadal dropping to No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Djokovic is bidding to capture his first Roland Garros trophy that would complete a career Grand Slam.

Sixth seed Nadal will start his quest for a 15th major title against Quentin Halys and could meet No. 10 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round, while Djokovic will face Jarkko Nieminen.

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Nadal has a 23-20 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead against Djokovic, with victories over the Serbian in the 2012 final, 2013 semi-finals and 2014 final. Djokovic, a winner of eight Grand Slam crowns, won their most recent meeting in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters semi-finals and is riding a 22-match winning streak.

Third seed Andy Murray, who is in the same half of the draw as Djokovic and Nadal, plays a qualifier in the first round. The 2011 and 2014 semi-finalist has a 10-0 record on clay courts this year, including two ATP World Tour titles. He is in the same quarter of the draw as seventh seed and 2013 runner-up David Ferrer, who challenges Lukas Lacko, and ninth seed Marin Cilic.

Second seed Roger Federer, the 2009 champion (d. Soderling) who will be making his 62nd Grand Slam championship appearance, will play a qualifier in the first round. He could potentially meet Gael Monfils, the No. 13 seed, in the fourth round. The pair has met three times at Roland Garros (2008-09, '11), but Monfils has won their past two clashes. Eighth seed Stan Wawrinka, who takes on Marsel Ilhan, could be a quarter-final opponent.

Fourth seed Tomas Berdych, who has reached the quarter-finals or better at every tournament he has contested in 2015, may need to beat No. 28 seed Fabio Fognini and No. 14 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga prior to a quarter-final against fifth seed Kei Nishikori. Berdych faces a qualifier in his first match, while Nishikori will meet Paul-Henri-Mathieu. Feliciano Lopez, the No. 11 seed, may be a fourth round opponent for Nishikori.

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