French Open - Murray draws brutal opener

Eurosport - Fri, 21 May 11:25:00 2010

Andy Murray will play France's Richard Gasquet in the opening round of the French Open at Roland Garros.

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Murray is in the same half of the draw as world number one and defending champion Roger Federer, who opens his tournament against Australia's Peter Luczak.

The draw means that Murray would meet Federer in the semi-final should both progress that far, but the Scot would first have to get through a potentially tough quarter-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, with Federer likely to play last year's runner-up Robin Soderling at the same stage.

Tournament favourite Rafael Nadal has been drawn in the same quarter as in-form compatriot Fernando Verdasco, with Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick the biggest names in the other quarter of the draw.

Murray's reward should he make it through the tough opener against Gasquet is likely to be a match against Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, with Marcos Baghdatis then Tomas Berdych or John Isner likely to stand in his way of making the quarter-finals.

Should Tsonga fall early on, Murray's likely quarter-final opponents include Russia's Mikhail Youzhny or Spanish pair Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Tommy Robredo.

Federer is likely to face Feliciano Lopez in the third round, with Gael Monfils or Stan Wawrinka probably awaiting in the last-16.

Nadal's first tough encounter is likely to be against veteran Ivan Ljubicic in the last-16, while on the other side of the quarter Verdasco will face big-hitting Chilean Fernando Gonzalez at the same stage.

David Ferrer, who has been one of the form players of the clay season, is in the same quarter of the draw as big-serving Roddick, seemingly giving him a straightforward route through to the quarter-finals where Djokovic is likely to be waiting.

The main banana skin for the Serbian is former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is enjoying his best season for several years.

First Round - Men's Singles:

1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) v Peter Luczak (Australia)

Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) v Alejandro Falla (Colombia)

Qualifier v Olivier Rochus (Belgium)

Qualifier v 27-Feliciano Lopez (Spain)

20-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) v Jan Hajek (Czech Republic)

Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) v Andreas Beck (Germany)

Nicolas Massu (Chile) v Fabio Fognini (Italy)

Florian Mayer (Germany) v 13-Gael Monfils (France)

10-Marin Cilic (Croatia) v Ricardo Mello (Brazil)

Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spain)

Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) v Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine)

Julien Benneteau (France) v 23-Ernests Gulbis (Latvia)

29-Albert Montanes (Spain) v Qualifier

Stephane Robert (France) v Qualifier

Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) v Taylor Dent (U.S.)

Laurent Recouderc (France) v 5-Robin Soderling (Sweden)

4-Andy Murray (Britain) v Richard Gasquet (France)

Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) v Ryan Sweeting (U.S.)

Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) v Marcel Granollers (Spain)

Qualifier v 25-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus)

17-John Isner (U.S.) v Andrey Golubev (Kazakhstan)

Qualifier v Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland)

Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) v Kevin Anderson (South Africa)

Qualifier v 15-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)

11-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) v Michal Przysiezny (Poland)

Qualifier v Lukas Lacko (Slovakia)

Philipp Petzschner (Germany) v Carsten Ball (Australia)

Viktor Troicki (Serbia) v 21-Tommy Robredo (Spain)

32-Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) v Rainer Schuettler (Germany)

Qualifier v Thiemo De Bakker (Netherlands)

Josselin Ouanna (France) v Lukasz Kubot (Poland)

Daniel Brands (Germany) v 8-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)

6-Andy Roddick (U.S.) v Jarkko Nieminen (Finland)

Eduardo Schwank (Argentina) v Blaz Kavcic (Slovenia)

Qualifier v Daniel Koellerer (Austria)

Qualifier v 26-Juan Monaco (Argentina)

22-Jurgen Melzer (Austria) v Dudi Sela (Israel)

Mischa Zverev (Germany) v Nicolas Mahut (France)

Xavier Malisse (Belgium) v Simon Greul (Germany)

David Guez (France) v 9-David Ferrer (Spain)

16-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) v Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay)

Marc Gicquel (France) v Pere Riba (Spain)

Potito Starace (Italy) v Illya Marchenko (Ukraine)

Robby Ginepri (U.S.) v 18-Sam Querrey (U.S.)

31-Victor Hanescu (Romania) v Oscar Hernandez (Spain)

Rajeev Ram (U.S.) v Qualifier

Kei Nishikori (Japan) v Santiago Giraldo (Colombia)

Evgeny Korolev (Kazakhstan) v 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

7-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) v Igor Kunitsyn (Russia)

Florent Serra (France) v Michael Russell (U.S.)

Qualifier v Andreas Seppi (Italy)

Karol Beck (Slovakia) v 30-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany)

19-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) v Robin Haase (Netherlands)

Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) v Steve Darcis (Belgium)

Arnaud Clement (France) v Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr (Ukraine)

Qualifier v 12-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile)

14-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) v Yen-Hsun Lu (Taiwan)

Michael Berrer (Germany) v Mardy Fish (U.S)

Qualifier v Qualifier

Michael Llodra (France) v 24-Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil)

28-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) v Jeremy Chardy (France)

Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) v Benjamin Becker (Germany)

Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) v Qualifier

Gianni Mina (France) v 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain)

French Open: Sunday 9.30am LIVE on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin 521) & on the Eurosport Player.

Eurosport

Comment 79 - 98 of 98

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  1. The same Gasquet who choked serving for the match­ today(though he still won), and choked serving for the­ match against Murray at Wimbledon two years ago? Tough­ opponent? Yeah sure, keep up the exaggeration so when­ Murray finally beats Gasquet in straights, you can fool­ yourself into thinking it was a bigger achievement that­ is actually is. Murray's RG draw is piss easy, he­ doesn't even play any decent clay courter till the­ semis and doesn't even play a decent player till­ the quarters.

    From joe, on Sun 23 May 8:06
  2. you are soooooooo right iulias

    From Stanescu, on Sun 23 May 7:47
  3. gasquet-andy: 6-0,6-0,6-0

    From iulia, on Sun 23 May 7:31
  4. I will miss DelPotro this Rolland Garros. Last year he­ was on a top form and nearly took Federer's dream­ away too bad he won't be playing now. I wish all­ players good luck and of course - please make matches­ more interesting not just "hit hard, I'll hit­ harder"

    From lili, on Sun 23 May 7:22
  5. yeah yeah yeah..tough draw.he will lose in first­ round.HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOVAK

    From iulia, on Sun 23 May 4:46
  6. 92.I hope I'm wrong but I don't think Andy­ will­ get past Richard Gasquet in the first round. Not­ on­ clay, not on present form.

    From Ronsenglish,

    Err­ do you study form? Present form is good actually,­ ever heard of Ferrer, a top clay courter? Andy just­ played a super close match with him. Andy has also­ for 2 days ago beaten Mardy Fish. His form is good. ­ Gasquet isn't in great form just now, though he is­ like Andy a classy player.

    From Jon, on Sun 23 May 1:22
  7. Poor old Murray !

    From salim, on Sun 23 May 0:42
  8. Nadal's draw is much tougher since he has to face­ the best gravel players. Andy Murray wil probably fly­ out in the first round so who does Federer have in his­ draw considered a threat? Soderling plays by far at the­ same level he did last year and Gulbis might be capable­ of winning a set from Federer but no more. Nadal has­ all the gravel playing spaniards like Almagro,­ Verdasco, Ferrer, Gonzales and Ferrero. For dessert he­ has djokovic, Hewitt and Andy Roddick. Federer has only­ nobodies in his draw.

    From Flavor, on Sun 23 May 0:01
  9. Not too keen on supporting frogs but COME ON­ GASQUETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

    From sussexdietcoke1, on Sat 22 May 20:32
  10. eddie just shut the fu ck up you twa.t..you know­ nothing about tennis...and you also hate fedex and you­ are jealous of him....he has achived more in life than­ you ever will

    From Igba, on Sat 22 May 20:09
  11. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think Andy will­ get past Richard Gasquet in the first round. Not on­ clay, not on present form.

    From Ronsenglish, on Sat 22 May 16:24
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Andy murray is a piece of scottish @#$%! remember when­ england was playing portugal in the euros or the world­ cup and he was wearing a portugal top. Hes scotlands­ only claim to fame and its not a good one as soon as­ hes won no majors!!

    From HELEN, on Sat 22 May 15:06
  13. Murray won't meet Federer as one of them will be­ eliminated in the early rounds. It would be better for­ them to prepare early for Wimbledon instead and­ forget about the French..

    From EDDIE, on Sat 22 May 14:40
  14. another tin henman is all murray is, quarter finalist­ at best of times.

    From scousepies, on Sat 22 May 14:06
  15. Who cares self centered looser.

    From martin b, on Sat 22 May 12:50
  16. Getting snuffed on a line for nothing has never been­ easier...go away.......Tim is a great British sport,­ and did his absolute. Murray reacts to jibes with­ retaliation, but he's just taking the piss to­ aggrevate thickos. He knows on which side his­ bread's buttered, and Grand Slams are thin on the­ ground north of the border.
    David2

    From David, on Sat 22 May 12:43
  17. To be the best you gotta beat the best...face them now­ or face them later. If he is meant to win he will no­ matter who he faces.

    From Roger M., on Sat 22 May 12:42
  18. Come on Luczak, u can do it!

    From thebladeofblade, on Sat 22 May 11:57
  19. murray has a chance in wimbledon,us open but just­ forget the french, if he hets to the quarters he shld­ be glad.

    From Damilola, on Sat 22 May 11:46
  20. He'll be too busy finishing his mint or twanging­ his banjo, what a loser and a bad one at that!

    From Viva Espana, on Sat 22 May 11:42
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