Novak Djokovic: I'd be thrilled to play Roger Federer in French Open quarterfinal

18-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic claims it would be a "thrill" to play record 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the French Open quarterfinal. 

World No 1 Djokovic, third-ranked Rafael Nadal and eighth-ranked Federer were all placed in the same half of the French Open draw. 

Djokovic suspects it's the first time in his career that he, Nadal and Federer were placed in the same part of the draw at a Grand Slam. 

"I think that this is the first time RF, Rafa and me are in the same half of the draw. It would be a thrill to play Roger in QF, a big challenge, but long ways to go until then," Djokovic said, per Sasa Ozmo. 

Djokovic hopes to start his French Open campaign on Tuesday

Djokovic, seeded at No. 1 in the French Open main draw, was drawn to meet American Tennys Sadgren in the first round.

On Friday, Djokovic beat Andrej Martin to make the Belgrade final. 

"Maybe it will be like last year in October to some degree. I am fine with that, but I won’t be making any requests (in terms of scheduling). Only thing is that I hope to play on Tuesday in order to rest and practice before the first match.

“Whenever that happens you have these consequences [with the seedings]. I see it as completely normal. I’m not worried about it. I have a lot of work in front of me to play a potential match versus Djokovic [in the semi-final]," Djokovic said of night matches at Roland Garros. 

Meanwhile, Nadal said he wasn't concerned by being placed in the same part of the draw as Djokovic and Federer.

“They would need to play each other and I have my own path. My path right now is [Alexei] Popyrin [in the first round] and that’s where my mind is. My draw is hard enough to be thinking about anything else. I must continue my preparation, focus on my routines and keep advancing in the way we want.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3wL7MBQ