The Draw ...

At 11 pm UK time last night, the draw was made ... and its really not bad for Rafa at all. Or Feds. It essentially could possibly turn out like this ...

Round 1 - Marcos Daniel
Round 2 - Daniel Gimeno-Traver
Round 3 - Feli Lopez
Round 4 - Marin Cilic (with Isner a possibility)
Quarters - David Ferrer (other possibilities being Youzhny, Nalbandian & Hewitt)
Semis - The Sod or Murray who are drawn to play each other in the quarters, hence one of them will be out (other possibilities being Tsonga, Gulbis, Del Potro)

Now nothing is ever that simple, and Slams wouldn't hold the attention they do if it weren't for the massive draw and the fact that there are always surprises, but a player of Rafa's calibre should be able to see them off, at least to the semi's. There's always going to be someone without a care in the world who's going to play the match of his life, but Rafa is just going to have to be better.

So his potential semi-final opponent is either The Sod or Murray, but in that quarter, there are a number of "big" names who will ultimately just be picking each other off round by round. But I'm happy with that draw, as Nole's hardcourt record against Rafa is the stuff that Feds' dreams are made of.

Lets get this party started!!