Roger Federer may be the favorite to win this slam (see poll), but he didn’t have a great start. The world no.2 received a tough draw where he will face a sticky Yen-Hsun Lu in the opener, possibly Monaco in the 2nd round, Chardy in the 3rd (he doesn’t like playing against the Frenchman), Robredo or an ever dangerous Karlovic in the 4th. Roger will definitely have a tough quarter as he should play either Dimitrov or Murray and then he could face Nadal in the semifinal (if Rafa is fit).
So basically if Roger wants to win this slam he may have to beat Murray, Nadal and Djokovic back to back…
Djokovic
On the other side of the draw Nole has a great path ahead. After a couple of easy first 2 rounds (a qualifier and possibly Albert Ramos), Nole should play Verdasco in the third and then either Isner (not in-form) or Bautista-Agut in the 4th. The problems for Nole start in the quarters where he should play an in-form Raonic and in the semis he should play either Wawrinka (his conqueror at the 2014 AO) or Nishikori (his conqueror at the 2014 US).
Nadal
Rafa’s main problem is not the draw, but his fitness. Unfortunately also the draw wasn’t that good. In fact, Rafa will immediately play a dangerous player (Youzhny) than either Australian wild card Lukas Saville or a qualifier, Rosol in the third (not a good customer for Rafa), Anderson or Gasquet in the 4th and Berdych in the quarters.
Possible quarters
Djokovic – Raonic
Wawrinka – Nishikori
Nadal – Berdych
Federer – Murray/Dimitrov
Interesting first rounds
Janowicz – Del Potro
Pouille – Monfils — upset alert
Kokkinakis – Gulbis — expect plenty of emotions
Brown – Dimitrov — most spectacular match of the first round
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