After a year he would probably chose to forget, Rafael Nadal has been handed the 29th birthday present he most certainly did not want, a potential quarter-final showdown with Novak Djokovic, the world No 1 and top seed.
The French Tennis Federation sticks rigidly to the ATP World Tour and WTA rankings to assemble the list of seeds for the clay and by virtue of Nadal now finding himself in an unaccustomed seventh spot - and being seeded No 6 because of Milos Raonic’s withdrawal after foot surgery - the nine-times champion was always likely to be pitched against a big name early in the tournament.
Andy Murray also finds himself in the same half as not just Djokovic and Nadal but also Marin Cilic,