French Open Draw Released: Isner's Path to the Quarterfinals

The French Open draw was released today, and I think it sets up nicely for John Isner. For the past few years, tennis has been dominated by the "big four" of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. Only one of those four, Andy Murray, has yet to win a grand slam tournament. Isner landed in Murray's section of the draw, which is where you want to be.

I think a realistic goal for Isner would be to make the quarterfinals. To do this, he would likely only have to "upset" one opponent. Let's take a look at what Isner's path to the quarterfinals could look like.

For the sake of projecting players forward, I used seed or current ranking. The only exception is with Mathieu over Phau. I just have a feeling the Frenchman will advance in that spot. If this holds, John is facing a player that plays predominantly on clay in every round shown.

Mathieu could be a tough out in round 2. John would be playing against both Mathieu and the partisan crowd. Sticking to the predictions above, Isner would then have to face Spaniards in back to back rounds in Marcel Granollers and David Ferrer.

Can John get through all of these players and face Andy Murray in the quarterfinals? He can, but I would have felt a lot better about it if you'd asked me that question a month ago. However, the odds of this portion of the draw looking like I have it are slim to none. Someone will be upset. I think the winner of the Haase / Youzhny match (no offense to James Blake) has a legitimate shot at taking out Ferrer in the third round.

Play begins on Sunday 5/27, but I don't know when Isner plays yet. The first round is played over three days, so he could play his first round match as late as Tuesday. Bulldawg Blawg will keep you up to date throughout the tournament as long as Isner is involved. Let's hope that is all the way through it!