Roger Federer and Andy Murray have been paired together in the top half of the French Open men's draw, though Murray faces a daunting challenge to get to the semifinals after being handed a tricky set of opponents in his section.
The struggling Scot opens against one of the local favorites, Richard Gasquet, who has won nine straight matches by taking the Bordeaux challenger and reaching the final in Nice his week. Further down the road for Murray could be the re-emerging Marcos Baghdatis, big hitters John Isner or Tomas Berdych and perhaps the tough Mikhail Youzhny or another local favorite, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the quarterfinals.
Federer could face a number of players who have challenged him in the past, including a possible second round against Janko Tipsarevic. But his earliest challenge is likely to come in the fourth round, against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka or local favorite Gael Monfils. The quarterfinal could bring another meeting with Ernests Gulbis -- the pair have gone three sets in all three meetings this year, splitting their two meetings during the clay events. Gulbis, however, has clay specialist Albert Montanes and the out-of-form but dangerous Marin Cilic and Robin Soderling in his section.
Four-time champ Rafael Nadal, who has not lost a match on clay this season, could face Lleyton Hewitt in the third round and big-hitter Ivan Ljubicic in the fourth but is unlikely to be troubled until the quarterfinals, where he could meet the winner of a likely clash between his compatriots Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Verdasco
The most uncertain part of the draw is the third quarter. Novak Djokovic is bracketed with Andy Roddick, but David Ferrer would be the favorite to win a possible fourth-rounder against Roddick, while Djokovic could have Victor Hanescu in the third round and perhaps Juan Carlos Ferrero or Sam Querrey in the fourth.
First round matches to watch include Murray vs. Gasquet and Querrey vs. Robby Ginepri. The full men's draw can be seen here.