Can anybody stop Rafa in Paris?

Rafael Nadal will open his quest for a ninth French Open (May 25 - June 8, 2014) crown with a tie against US veteran wildcard Robby Ginepri following draw which treated the Spaniard kindly. The 27-year-old has a 59-1 win record at Roland Garros since he first appeared in Paris in 2005, his only loss being to Robin Soderling of Sweden in a 2009 fourth round upset. But Nadal's uncustomary struggles on clay in the buildup to Roland Garros means that he is not the outstanding favourite he usually is, with world number two Novak Djokovic also fancied to win what would be his first French Open title.Still, the draw handed Nadal a relatively more straightforward passage through the rounds than Djokovic.