Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • International
      • #
    • Business
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup 2022
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • International
      • #
    • Business
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup 2022
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
  • Latest
  • Business
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • All Woman
  • Career & Education
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Classifieds
  • Design Week
Nadal gets dream draw
Spanish tennisplayer RafaelNadal flashesa smile duringthe official drawceremony for theRoland Garros2018 FrenchTennis Open inParis, France,yesterday.(Photo: AFP)
Sports, Tennis
May 24, 2018

Nadal gets dream draw

…Serena, Sharapova poised for French Open last-16 duel

PARIS, France (AFP) – Three-time champion Serena Williams could face long-time rival Maria Sharapova in the French Open last-16 after yesterday’s draw which also handed Rafael Nadal a dream route to an 11th title.

Serena, the champion in 2002, 2013 and 2015, will start against Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic.

Former world number one Williams, now ranked a lowly 453, is playing a Grand Slam for the first time since she won her 23rd major at the 2017 Australian Open, after which she stepped off the tour to give birth to her daughter in September.

Pliskova, the twin sister of world number six Karolina, has never won a main draw match at Roland Garros.

Williams, 36, has played just four matches on the tour in 2018 and not featured at all since Miami in March.

Sharapova, champion in 2012 and 2014, could face Serena, against who she lost in the 2013 final at Roland Garros, in the fourth round.

The Russian, who missed last year’s event after she was refused a wild card as she battled to rebuild her career following a 15-month doping ban, has not defeated Williams since 2004.

The American leads their head-to-head series 19-2.

Before they get to that stage, Sharapova would possibly have to get past Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova.

Top seed and two-time runner-up Simona Halep faces Alison Riske of the United States in her opener, while second seed and Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki starts against another American, Danielle Collins.

Top seed Nadal starts his bid for an 11th Roland Garros title against Ukraine’s world number 54 Alexander Dolgopolov.

Nadal fresh from an eighth Rome clay court title, having also won his 11th trophies in Barcelona and Monte Carlo already this spring has a 7-2 record over Dolgopolov.

“It’s always special when I come back to Paris where I have had so many wonderful moments in my career,” said Nadal at the draw ceremony ahead of the French Open, which starts on Sunday.

One glance at the draw would have left the 31-year-old Spaniard feeling even more special after former champions Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka as well as clay-court dangerman Dominic Thiem all landed in the other half of the draw where Alexander Zverev is the second seed.

Nadal’s path to the final could see him face childhood friend Richard Gasquet in the third round, possibly Denis Shapovalov in the last-16, then Kevin Anderson, who he beat in the 2017 US Open final, and third-seed Marin Cilic in the semi-finals.

Zverev, who lost to Nadal in the Rome final last weekend, has never got beyond the third round in Paris and was defeated in the first round last year.

The 21-year-old German, who is seeded second in the absence of Roger Federer, begins his French Open against Ricardis Berankis of Lithuania.

Djokovic, the 2016 champion who is down at 22 in the rankings after struggling to recover from an elbow injury, starts against a qualifier and could meet fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.

The 31-year-old Djokovic showed signs of a return to form in Rome where he made the semi-finals, losing to Nadal.

Wawrinka, the 2015 champion in Paris and runner-up to Nadal last year, begins against Spain’s Guillermo Garcia Lopez.

Swiss veteran Wawrinka has missed three months of the year after knee surgery and only returned to action in Geneva this week, where he won one match before losing in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Defending women’s champion Jelena Ostapenko, fifth in the world, starts against Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine and could face former world number one and two-time Grand Slam title winner Victoria Azarenka in the second round.

Third seed Garbine Muguruza, who beat Williams in the 2016 final, starts against Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion in Paris.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

US stocks rally as jobs report beats expectations
Business, Latest News
US stocks rally as jobs report beats expectations
June 6, 2025
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) -- Wall Street mounted a strong comeback Friday as a government jobs report showed that hiring was solid for now, easing...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
AI-generated Pope sermons flood YouTube, TikTok
International News, Latest News
AI-generated Pope sermons flood YouTube, TikTok
June 5, 2025
Washington, United States (AFP)-AI-generated videos and audios of Pope Leo XIV are populating rapidly online, racking up views as platforms struggle t...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Portmore hairdresser charged with misprision of a felony
Latest News, News
Portmore hairdresser charged with misprision of a felony
June 5, 2025
ST CATHERINE, Jamaica-A woman has been charged with misprision of a felony and accessory after the fact following an incident in Portmore, St Catherin...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
St Elizabeth ready for hurricane season
Latest News, News
St Elizabeth ready for hurricane season
June 5, 2025
ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica-The parish of St Elizabeth is in a state of readiness for the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season, with key emergency measures now in...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Hundreds evacuated as Guatemalan volcano erupts
International News, Latest News
Hundreds evacuated as Guatemalan volcano erupts
June 5, 2025
Escuintla, Guatemala (AFP)-Guatemalan authorities said Thursday they were evacuating more than 500 people after Central America's most active volcano ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Trinidad and Tobago sends warning to Venezuela
Latest News, Regional
Trinidad and Tobago sends warning to Venezuela
June 5, 2025
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad and Tobago government Thursday night said that it takes “very seriously” threats being made by Venezuela ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
UN official sounds alarm over sexual violence crisis in gang-ravaged Haiti
Latest News, Regional
UN official sounds alarm over sexual violence crisis in gang-ravaged Haiti
June 5, 2025
UNITED NATIONS (CMC)– The United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, has sounded the alarm over the sexual ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Yamal, Williams dazzle as Spain beat France in nine-goal thriller
Latest News, Sports
Yamal, Williams dazzle as Spain beat France in nine-goal thriller
June 5, 2025
STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) -- Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart on Thursday, t...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct