Paris — “Not nice Maria,” joked Toni Nadal in a French radio interview here on Friday.
Or maybe Uncle Toni wasn’t joking. As defending women’s champion at the French Open, Maria Sharapova had the honors of pulling the names out of the trophy for the draw of this year’s men’s tournament.
The result of her handiwork? Toni’s nephew Rafael Nadal, the nine-time French Open champion, is in the same quarter of the draw as Novak Djokovic, who is the rightful favorite this year to win the only Grand Slam singles title he lacks.