Federer’s French Open hopes improve with Nadal and Djokovic drawn together

Roger Federer could not have asked for a better draw if he has serious aspirations of winning the French Open for a second time.

The main piece of good news for Federer is that he has been drawn in the opposite half of proceedings to both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, meaning he cannot meet either until the final.

Furthermore, Federer’s passage through the early rounds should also be hiccup-free, as he will face qualifiers in his first two games.

He has shortened into 11/1 on the back of his draw.

David Ferrer is the other seed in Federer’s half of the draw, but the bigger last-four threat would potentially be Tomas Berdych, who has beaten Federer in their last two meetings.

However, looking at the draw on the whole, Berdych can feel the most aggrieved that luck has certainly not been on his side.

Up first for the Czech fifth seed is home wildcard Gael Monfils, who has reached at least the quarter finals at Roland Garros in three of his last four appearances.

Then, Ernests Gulbis would probably await in round two, who is arguably the most fancied outsider in the French Open betting given the difficulty he posed to Nadal in Rome recently.

For the big guns, Djokovic has a potentially tricky opener with David Goffin , who reached round four last year before losing to Federer.

Nadal should have little trouble with Germany’s Daniel Brands first and his quarter does not look the toughest, with Richard Gasquet, Kei Nishikori and Stanislas Wawrinka appearing the main threats.

Nadal is unchanged at 8/11 to win the French Open, with Djokovic available at 2/1.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publication