“Rafa is going to the semifinals if he wins this match”: Andy Roddick on Nadal vs. Zverev

Andy Roddick, along with frequent podcast guest Jon Wertheim, broke apart the Roland Garros draw—one match-up at a time—on this week’s *Served with Andy Roddick*.

“I have not seen the draw yet,” Roddick said at the start. “Recent form, moment, match-up, those things will all factor in.”

Assessing the women’s draw first, per request by the producers and against the fan-instinct in Roddick to know where Rafael Nadal landed, Roddick filled out his picks like a March Madness bracket.

Right out of the gate, excitement flooded the former world No. 1 when he spotted a Naomi Osaka vs. Iga Swiatek potential second-rounder.

“The first eight lines of this event are the last four champions, we don’t often have that, do we?” Wertheim said.

The two agreed that Swiatek would make it through to the business end of the draw, regardless of how many previous champions are in her bracket.

“It could be the worst draw for [Swiatek] in the history of draws and I still like her,” Roddick said.

Roddick put Swiatek in the fourth round against Barbora Krejcikova, and thereafter meeting Danielle Collins.

“Collins is going to make the quarters,” he said. “I would’ve said that even if she hadn’t come on the podcast.”

The rest of his quarterfinal match-ups include each of the top 4 seeds, making for an interesting discussion between Roddick and Wertheim.

“We’ll save the crazy for the men’s draw,” Wertheim said.

When it came time for that assessment, Roddick restrained himself from scanning the bracket for Nadal’s name. Instead, he joked about a Djokovic first-round upset and made his way down the list.

After some “Ooo”s and “Ahh”s, he focused on the Gael Monfils vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild first-round collision.

“This is heart over head,” Wertheim said. “Monfils, French crowd, Olympics looming. I think you gotta go style over substance over here.”

Roddick sent Seyboth Wild through, knowing he’s “going to get roasted for this pick,” and even has him beating Lorenzo Musetti in the second round.

Debates over Tommy Paul and Francisco Cerundolo emerged—as did a shake of the head in terms of Taylor Fritz’s recent upset in Geneva—and then there came the Casper Ruud vs. Jakub Mensik decision.

“This Mensik guy, I can’t pick against Casper, I’m just going to say this guy is quickly becoming a pain in the ass for a lot of people,” Roddick said. “I can’t choose him, but it’s not a 95-5 matchup, it’s closer than that, it’s not a shoe in. Ruud has a tough draw.”

And then the screaming came. “I found it! Holy sh\t!” Roddick yelled. “F\ck me first round holy sh*t!”

Hands over eyes, a deeper groan emerges as Roddick discovers that Rafael Nadal is to face Alexander Zverev in the first round.

“I hate what I'm about to say, I hate what I'm about to say,” Roddick said. “This has so many layers. Obviously a handful of favorites coming in, last time they played at this tournament Zverev breaks his ankle and is out for a year plus. And Rafa, our dear Rafa. Our friend, his last Roland Garros, Rafa. I'm not going to say it, [to producer] can you say it for me? I can't, I'm not going to say it out loud.”

A whisper of Zverev’s name from producer Mike confirmed Roddick’s despair.

“If we’re going to spin it positively for Rafa, I think his best chance of making a deep run is getting through a match like this first,” Roddick said.

“Same court, same opponent in which Zverev had this gruesome injury that nearly ended his career,” Wertheim argued. “Zverev showed himself to be very good at compartmentalizing in other ways, but I do wonder if there isn't a bit of a psychological factor. Not having to play the great Rafa Nadal, 14-time champion—but having to play the guy who's on the other side of the net when you had this horrific injury.

“This is heart over head in a big way. The crowd is going to get into this, maybe there’ll be a rain delay. I do feel like tennis gives us these moments every now and then…Rafa’s going to win…tennis gods work in strange ways.”

“I would love to eat sh*t on this pick,” Roddick said. “Rafa’s going to the semifinals if he wins this match.”

Scribbling predictions along the way, debates raged over Khachanov and Rune; Ben Shelton was a quick third-round selection, and Felix Auger-Aliassime brought upon memories of Tony Nadal in his corner not too long ago.

Stefanos Tsitsipas was another easy name for Roddick to move forward in the draw.

“You know what they say,” Wertheim said. “Single and ready to make the quarterfinals of a major.”

Roddick then, with much confidence and a nod of approval from Wertheim, declared Alcaraz a quarterfinals pick.

“This is a beautiful little section for Alcaraz,” Roddick said. “Korda-Alcaraz could be a fun watch.”

Into the last section of the draw, Roddick quickly pushed Hubert Hurkacz into the fourth round, while he was weary putting Frances Tiafoe through without seeing who his qualifying opponent would be.

Wertheim spoke highly of Alejandro Tabilo, favoring him over Dimitrov for the quarters of that section. And although Roddick's cursing resumed when he spotted Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in a first-rounder, the biggest surprise was Wertheim picking Nicolas Jarry for the semifinals.

“I’m totally team Sinner, but a hip injury…I don’t like this,” Wertheim said. “This is based solely on health and nothing else, but I think Nicolas Jarry is going to be around for many, many rounds.”

The two then compared their picks side by side, and found Djokovic, Nadal (Wertheim’s “tennis god” pick), Alcaraz, Rublev and Fritz to reach the quarterfinals.

“I hate every pick that I made,” Roddick said at the very end.

This episode will air on T2 Sunday night, and will be available across media channels on Tuesday. Find out Roddick and Wertheim’s picks for the semifinals and beyond to get ready for an epic two weeks in Paris.