Novak Djokovic: Road to French Open Finals Goes Through Roger Federer

Novak Djokovic, the world's No. 1 men's tennis player, will have a tough road to the French Open finals.

He is slated to go up against Roger Federer in the semifinals—should both of them make it that far—and has a much tougher task in front of him than his rival, Rafael Nadal.

And I thought being the king of the hill was supposed to have its perks. 

At least we know Djokovic will be sufficiently battle-tested if he makes it to the finals to presumptively face Nadal. Remember, it was Federer who stifled Djokovic's 43-match winning streak in last year's Open by winning in the semifinals.

This could be a case of déjà vu all over again. 

Djokovic not only will have to face Federer in the semifinals, but he could potentially also have to face No. 5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the quarterfinals. 

Talk about a brutal draw.

On the other side of the draw, Nadal seems to have a fairly easy path. He is slated to face Simone Bolelli of Italy in his first match and then is likely to see Juan Monaco of Argentina in the third round.

His biggest test would potentially be a semifinals matchup against the world's No. 4, Andy Murray, who hasn't performed well on clay so far this year.

There is plenty of tennis that needs to happen before Federer and Djokovic can meet up in the semifinals, but the odds are high that this epic match is going to happen.

Djokovic will have his work cut out for him if he has any chance of winning his first French Open. At least he can say he earned it if he does come away with the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

Follow @JesseReed78