Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in same half of French Open draw; Cameron Norrie faces home player Benoit Paire in first round; Dan Evans takes on Thanasi Kokkinakis while Jack Draper will play Tomas Martin Etcheverry; defending women's champ Iga Swiatek starts against Cristina Bucsa
Thursday 25 May 2023 15:30, UK
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic could meet in the French Open semi-finals after being placed in the same half of the men's singles draw.
Alcaraz, who will play a qualifier in the opening round, could face some treacherous match-ups en route to a potential semi-final against world No 3 Djokovic with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, Lorenzo Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the top quarter of the draw.
Djokovic, who starts against Aleksandar Kovacevic, has a seemingly smooth journey to the last four with Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev his main threat.
In the absence of 14-time winner and defending champion Rafael Nadal, who will miss the clay court major through injury, all eyes are on Djokovic and Alcaraz.
British No 1 Cameron Norrie will begin his campaign at Roland Garros against Frenchman Benoit Paire and could face Alcaraz in the fourth round.
Dan Evans will meet Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis while 21-year-old Jack Draper will play Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round.
Former British No 1 Kyle Edmund withdrew shortly before the draw took place with a wrist injury.
World No 2 Daniil Medvedev is in the lower part of the draw and will play a qualifier in the first round.
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (Spa) (1) vs Qualifier
Benoit Paire (Fra) v Cameron Norrie (Gbr) (14)
Jiri Vesely (Cze) v Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) (5)
Novak Djokovic (Ser) (3) v Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (Aus) v Daniel Evans (Gbr) (20)
Qualifier v Casper Ruud (Nor) (4)
Jack Draper (Gbr) v Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Arg)
Qualifier v Daniil Medvedev (Rus) (2)
In the women's draw, defending champion and world No 1 Iga Swiatek will start against Cristina Bucsa, the world No 67.
She faces a potential quarter-final against Coco Gauff, the American she beat in last year's final.
Swiatek, who retired in Rome earlier this month with a thigh injury, has already started practising at Roland Garros this week.
Anhelina Kalinina, who reached the final in Rome, could stand in Gauff's way in the third round.
French hopes will rest on the shoulders of fifth seed Caroline Garcia, who is on a quarter-final collision course with second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Belarusian Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, beat Swiatek in the final of the Madrid Open last month.
Rome champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan is expected to have a smooth run to the last eight, where she could face Tunisian seventh seed Ons Jabeur.
There is no British representation in the women's singles draw after Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Fran Jones lost in qualifying and Emma Raducanu withdrew after undergoing a number of surgeries.
Iga Swiatek (Pol) (1) vs Cristina Bucsa (Spa)
Elena Rybakina (Kaz) (4) vs Qualifier
Danielle Collins (USA) v Jessica Pegula (USA) (3)
Caroline Garcia (Fra) (5) v Xiyu Wang (Chn)
Marta Kostyuk (Ukr) v Aryna Sabalenka (Blr) (2)
