French Open 2012 Predictions: Rafael Nadal and All Fourth-Rounders

The 2012 French Open main draw was released on Friday. Novak Djokovic is the top-seeded player in the tournament for the first time in his career.

A lot of hype surrounds the approaching clay-court slam and predictions are being offered in abundance. What follows is my take on who will make the Round of 16 at the 2012 French Open.

Novak Djokovic: Seeded First

Novak Djokovic has underachieved at Roland Garros in the past. Few will forget that he was playing the best tennis of his career at this time last year, before he suffered a surprise loss to Roger Federer in the 2011 French Open semifinals.

What should also be remembered about Djokovic is that he lost to Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals in 2010 and to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the 2009 French Open.

However Djokovic is still playing near his best tennis and his ability to win five-set matches is clear, as he has won five Grand Slams in the past. He'll be looking for his career slam at Roland Garros in the upcoming weeks and his draw to the fourth round has no speed bumps. Djokovic can face no one more talented than Lleyton Hewitt, a player with unquestionable heart but whose best tennis is well behind him.

Look for Djokovic to make the fourth round through Potito Starace, Lleyton Hewitt and Jurgen Melzer in nine or 10 sets.

Andreas Seppi: Seeded 22nd

Andreas Seppi of Italy is playing the best tennis of his career right now, tennis that saw him claim a clay-court title at ATP Belgrade not long ago. More recently, Seppi enjoyed a run to the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters where he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in a very tight and pressure-filled match.

Seppi has never made the fourth round of a major, however of the eight candidates in his section of the draw, he is the one I have the most confidence in. Fernando Verdasco is actually the highest seed in that section, but the Spaniard is struggling right now and only defeated Rafael Nadal in Madrid because Rafa's heart wasn't totally in the match.

This "eighth" is fairly wide open, but I choose Seppi despite the fact that his first-round match against Nikolay Davydenko could be troublesome. Davydenko is a lower-ranked player right now but one with far more experience putting together runs in majors.

I think Seppi wins with some drama through Davydenko, Mikhail Kukushkin, and then either Steve Darcis or Verdasco.

Fourth-round matchup: No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 22 Andreas Seppi

Stanislas Wawrinka: Seeded 18th

Stanislas Wawrinka has enjoyed modest success at the French Open in the past as he is 10-4 in the main draw in the last four years. That record has seen him make the fourth round for two years running and I think he should be considered the favorite in his eighth of the draw, where Gilles Simon is actually the highest seed.

Simon had very little in his ATP Nice semifinal match against Nicolas Almagro, winning just four games in a defeat in front of his home town fans. Furthermore Simon has a very tough microsection as he's plunked down beside Ryan Harrison, Xavier Malisse and ATP Nice finalist Brian Baker (the final was still to be played at time of writing).

Wawrinka looks great to advance to the fourth round through Flavio Cipolla, Pablo Andujar and then any one of the four players mentioned above.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Seeded 5th

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is really the only player that can be picked to make the fourth round in his eighth of the draw, in my view.

The only other seeded player in that section is Viktor Troicki, and the Serb has not been playing well of late. I do not have full confidence in Tsonga's current form but he is 8-3 in the last three French Opens and it's hard to picture anyone beating him in the early rounds.

Look for Tsonga to advance through Andrey Kuznetsov, Cedrek-Marcel Stebe and Thomaz Bellucci.

Fourth round: No. 5 Tsonga vs. No. 18 Wawrinka

Roger Federer: Seeded 3rd

Roger Federer's draw through the first three rounds of the 2012 French Open looks plain boring. There's little in his way and he is incredibly likely to make the fourth round of the tournament.

The highest-seeded player in Federer's section is Andy Roddick, and even when he was playing his best tennis the American was never much of a factor at the French Open. Roddick, who probably wants nothing to do with a third-round clay-court match against Fed, has just one fourth-round appearance at Roland Garros to his credit. That was back in the summer of 2009 when he was just about good enough to win Wimbledon.

The only player in the early rounds that could put a match together against Federer is David Nalbandian, a potential second-round opponent. Nalbandian has beaten Federer before, but the Argentine's clay-court season has not been strong as he lost to Marin Cilic, Andreas Seppi, Milos Raonic and Andy Murray. There's not a bad player in that quartet but none are Fed's caliber and the World No. 3 has recently defeated both Seppi and Raonic.

Look for Federer to advance to the fourth round without any sweat through Tobias Kamke, Nalbandian and then Martin Klizan.

Lukasz Kubot: Unseeded

The next eighth of the draw is a bit of a nightmare for predictions, as the two seeded players to choose from are not players one can have much confidence in. Feliciano Lopez is the 15th seed and that makes him a candidate to make the fourth round, as he cannot face anyone ranked higher than himself until that point in the draw.

However Lopez is a horrific clay-courter at Roland Garros, a player who has just one match-win at the French Open since 2004 (and he's been in all of the draws).

The other seeded player in that section is Radek Stepanek, but it's been a few years since the Czech star has had the wind to win three best-of-five set-matches in a Grand Slam, and he'll be 34 years old later this year.

Arnaud Clement is probably the best pure talent in this eighth of the draw but he's already 34. You have to wonder if this is his final appearance at Roland Garros, just based on that.

I will go with the unseeded Lukasz Kubot in this section of the draw based on his third-round appearance last year, his two other appearances in the fourth round of majors in fairly recent Grand Slams, and based on the fact that he probably needs the money.

Fourth-round match: No. 3 Roger Federer vs. Lukasz Kubot

Juan Martin Del Potro: Seeded 9th

Juan Martin del Potro doesn't have the easiest first-round match, as he's picked up a player with multiple clay court titles to his credit in Albert Montanes, a fourth-rounder from Roland Garros from last year.

However I think Delpo should still win the match quite easily as Montanes is fading on tour, having lost three straight first-round Grand Slam matches heading into the 2012 French Open.

I also think del Potro's second-round match should be easier than his first, as he will face a player with little experience winning Grand Slam matches. Marin Cilic is the highest-seeded player near del Potro in the draw but the Croat is either in a really long lull since making the top 10 back in 2010 or he's just not that good anymore.

Del Potro looks great to arrive in the fourth round of Roland Garros nearly unscathed through Montanes, Vasek Pospisil, and Cilic.

Tomas Berdych: Seeded 7th

If Tomas Berdych doesn't take advantage of the simple draw the Czech has to the tournament's fourth round, then it will be discrediting. The former Wimbledon finalist and 2010 French Open semifinalist doesn't have a whole lot of talent around him at this year's French Open, with 31st-seeded Kevin Anderson the highest-ranked player near to the World No. 7.

Berdych is playing near his best tennis, having done plenty of damage during the clay court season so far. He promises to arrive in the fourth round having expended little energy through Dudi Sela, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Anderson.

Fourth-round opponent: No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro vs. No. 7 Tomas Berdych

David Ferrer: Seeded 6th

David Ferrer is a very good clay-courter in general but has bumped into some problems over the years at the French Open. He's only made the quarters twice and he's not a lock to make the fourth round in any year.

Lukas Lacko might prove to be a tricky first-round opponent for the Spaniard as Lacko is just 23 years old, he's approaching his career high ranking and he has experienced some success in five set matches so far in 2012.

However I still like Ferrer's draw and I think he will go through Lacko, Benoit Paire and Mikhail Youzhny en route to the fourth round.

Marcel Granollers: Seeded 20th

The next eighth of the draw is John Isner's if you went strictly by seeding. However it appears to be a section of the tournament that is fairly wide open ahead of the fourth round.

The talent in this section is either minimal or aged, with veterans Paul-Henri Mathieu and Philipp Petzschner—two players who stand a chance of making it to the round of sixteen. 

Isner is a problematic player in Grand Slams because he often plays very long sets due to the nature of his game. He can be unbreakable, but there's plenty of times when he can't break his opponent. That leads to plenty of tiebreakers. Fatiguing matches are horrible in Grand Slams because the tournament is long and energy conservation is important.

I think Isner can challenge anyone when his serve is clicking at its best, making him a factor in all tournaments he plays in. However I like Marcel Granollers in this section because, unlike Isner, Granollers has a couple clay-court titles to his credit and unlike some of the other talented players in this eighth, the Spaniard is still in his tennis prime.

Fourth-round match: No. 6 David Ferrer vs. No. 20 Marcel Granollers

Richard Gasquet: Seeded 17th

This section of the draw looks like a showdown between France's Richard Gasquet and the Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov. 

Gasquet has more experience at the French Open and he enters this year's draw having made the fourth round at last year's event. Additionally, Gasquet is 2-0 heads up against Dolgopolov, a player who has never won a third-round match at Roland Garros before.

Dolgopolov's draw through the first two rounds looks a bit tougher than Gasquet's mainly due to the fact that Dolgo has picked up Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round, a player capable of pulling off an upset at Roland Garros.

Andy Murray: Seeded 4th

I'm not terribly excited about Andy Murray's chances of making the semifinals at the 2012 French Open, following a lackluster clay court season.

However there does not appear to be anything in the Scot's way ahead of the fourth round at Roland Garros this season. Murray has shown in the last three years that he is not going to take the French Open lightly just because clay is not his best surface. 

A third-round match against Bernard Tomic promises to be challenging but I think you give Murray the benefit of the doubt despite questionable recent form, as he plays his best in the majors.

Fourth-round match: No. 4 Andy Murray vs. No. 17 Richard Gasquet

Sam Querrey: Unseeded

Janko Tipsarevic is the eighth seed at the 2012 French Open and that seeding would imply a quarterfinal appearance. However Tipsy received an unlucky draw on Friday as he will have to face Sam Querrey in the very first round.

Querrey is playing strong tennis once again following a challenger title on clay in April, a run through qualifiers in Rome and a main draw victory in that Masters event. Querrey is 3-1 heads up against Tipsarevic and the Serb might be a high seed casualty at the 2012 French Open.

Between Querrey and Tipsarevic, the American is the only one with a clay court title to his credit. He won ATP Belgrade back in 2010 and also made the final of ATP Houston that same year.

The only other seeded player in this section is Julien Benneteau, a 30-year-old whose fourth-round appearances are few and far between. 

Nicolas Almagro: Seeded 12th

Nicolas Almagro has eleven clay court titles to his credit and on Saturday May 26th he will challenge for his 12th, as the Spaniard is in the ATP Nice final against a player currently ranked outside of the Top 200. 

Playing in an ATP tournament the week immediately before a Grand Slam is a poor move in my view and players who are in the Top 20 on tour should avoid doing this.

But Almagro makes a good living cleaning up on the weaker clay court talents and his draw to the fourth round of the French Open looks good. Philipp Kohlschreiber could punish Almagro in a prospective third-round match if the Spaniard is fatigued but I think the World No. 14 is the favorite in his eighth.

Fourth-round match: No. 14 Nicolas Almagro vs. Sam Querrey

Milos Raonic: Seeded 19th

Milos Raonic has something to prove at the 2012 French Open and I think he's capable of making a dent in the draw. He's had some recent ups and downs—he played well in Barcelona and Madrid but poorly in Rome.

An early round draw through Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo and Jesse Levine looks quite feasible, with a third-round match against Juan Monaco looking competitive.

I think Raonic is a Grand Slam player who will make the fourth round at Roland Garros and I see him cracking the top 20 before the start of Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal: Seeded Second

I don't believe in locks in sports but Rafael Nadal winning his early round matches at the French Open is the closest thing.

Fourth-round match: No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 19 Milos Raonic