Olympic Draw

Many argued during Wimbledon 2012 that even before Rafa went out that Federer had received a "soft" draw.  Meaning that it was set up to give Roger the easiest possible route to the semifinals where he would likely meet Djokovic.  The logic was that no one wanted to see Roger get bounced by the likes of a Tomas Berdych, or a Jo-Wilfried Tsonga early on.  I will certainly admit that Roger's draw at Wimbledon was surprisingly easy and gave him a better chance to win by staying fresh early in the tournament.  

The same calls of conspiracy that we heard in June are being renewed for the Olympics given another relatively easy draw for Fed at the All England Club, err...uh, I mean the Olympics. This is incorrect because the Olympic tournament sets up more like Masters 1000 events than it does like a Grand Slam.  There are fewer players, but all with high rankings. 

But if you look at his half Federer could still see Janko Tipsarevic, John Isner, Jo Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro, Mairin Cilic or David Ferrer before the gold medal match.  These are all top-12 players capable of beating Roger.  In addition, Federer's first-round match is against Alejandro Falla, whom took two sets off him at Wimbledon 2010.