Defending champion Novak Djokovic, 13-times winner Rafael Nadal and new younger star Carlos Alcaraz have been drawn in the identical half of the French Open on Thursday.
The world primary, Djokovic and Nadal, ranked fifth, will meet early within the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz, 19, is striving to develop into the eighth teenager to win a males’s Grand Slam title.
He may face both Djokovic or Nadal, the match’s document twenty first, within the semi-finals in a heavy tie for the second main slam of the season.
“I’m very motivated to play my greatest tennis,” stated Djokovic, a two-time French Open champion and 20-time winner.
“In Paris, I at all times play very exhausting. Final 12 months, it was the toughest match I gained.”
Djokovic needed to come from two units down final 12 months to beat Lorenzo Mussetti within the final 16 and Stefanos Tsitspas within the ultimate, having additionally crushed Nadal from a late set within the semi-finals.
“Musetti, Rafa and Tsitsipas – every match took greater than three hours. It was exhausting however I liked the outcome.”
Djokovic, who celebrates his thirty fifth birthday on Sunday, faces the opening day at Roland Garros, Japan’s 94th seed Yoshihito Nishioka within the first spherical.
Djokovic defeated Nishioka in straight units within the third spherical of the 2020 Australian Open.
He can be fired to defend his title after he was deported from Melbourne in January for refusing to get vaccinated.
Nadal begins towards Australia’s Jordan Thompson as he seems to be to increase his French Open document by simply three defeats in 108 matches since his debut in 2005.
vs Oasaka Anisimova
Thompson, seeded 82, reached the third spherical in Paris in 2019 earlier than dropping to Juan Martin del Potro.
Nadal arrived at Roland Garros trying to shake off a recurring lengthy foot damage that left him limping to an early defeat in Rome final week as Djokovic claimed his sixth title within the Italian capital.
He may face 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka within the second spherical.
Alcaraz, who gained 4 titles in 2022 together with the Masters titles in Miami and Madrid in addition to Rio and Barcelona, begins towards a qualifying match.
Kids despatched off Djokovic and Nadal on their approach to victory within the Spanish capital.
A possible opponent for Alcaraz within the Spherical of 32 is Sebastian Korda, who he knocked out within the first spherical in Monte Carlo in April.
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev faces Argentine Facundo Bagnes in his first spherical.
Third seed Alexander Zverev meets a qualifier whereas Tsitsipas faces a tricky opener towards Musseti.
Within the ladies’s draw, world primary Iga Sweetek, the 2020 champion, has made 28 consecutive matches and gained 5 consecutive titles this season.
The 20-year-old Pole begins towards a qualifying match whereas second seed and defending champion Barbora Krejsikova faces France’s Diane Barry.
“The courts are nice. The mud is totally different from different tournaments, however it fits me,” Krijikova stated at Thursday’s draw ceremony in Roland Garros.
4-time winner Naomi Osaka, the previous world primary however has now fallen again on the age of 38, is again in Paris 12 months after she withdrew earlier than the second spherical, resulting from psychological well being points.
She was additionally threatened with expulsion and a effective by the organizers for refusing to attend press conferences.
The 24-year-old, with the best revenue on this planet, faces twenty seventh seed American Amanda Anisimova, who reached the semi-finals in Paris in 2019.
Anisimova knocked Osaka out of the Australian Open for the third spherical this 12 months.
Third seed Paula Padusa of Spain begins towards France’s Fiona Ferro whereas fourth seed Maria Saccari additionally performs a French opponent in Clara Borrell.
Tunisian Anas Jaber, the sixth seed and clay courtroom champion in Madrid final month, will meet Poland’s Magda Linnet within the first spherical match.
(AFP)
