by Vincent Daheron
PARIS (Reuters) – Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 14-time winner of Roland-Garros, will face German Alexander Zverev in the first round of the French Open, after the draw for the 123rd edition of the Parisian Grand Slam was made on Thursday.
A very complicated draw for the 37-year-old Majorcan who inherits, for his very likely last Roland-Garros, from the No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, recent winner of the Masters 1000 in Rome.
“We knew very well before the draw that it could be a possibility but it’s true that it happens a little early in the tournament,” declared Amélie Mauresmo, the director of Roland-Garros.
“It’s good news for neither.”
In the event of qualification, he could find Holger Rune in the round of 16, then successively Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic.
The latter, defending champion and world number one, will begin his tournament against Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and will have to potentially dismiss the finalist of the last two editions, Casper Ruud, to win a 25th Grand Slam title.
The Italian Janik Sinner, who can dream of first place in the world at the end of the tournament, will face the American Christopher Eubanks to start before a potential match in the 3rd round against Stanislas Wawrinka or Andy Murray. The two triple Grand Slam winners face each other in the first round.
“The elders who meet face to face, it’s a superb poster,” said Amélie Mauresmo.
Third in the ATP, the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (21), who will challenge a qualifier in the first round, appears in the part of the table of the Russian Andrey Rublev whom he could face in the quarter-final.
In the women’s draw, the Polish Iga Swiatek, world number one and victorious in three of the last four editions, will first be pitted against a player from qualifying before, perhaps, challenging the Japanese Naomi Osaka in the next round, four Grand Slam titles to his name.
Iga Swiatek could meet the Czech Marketa Vondrousova, seeded no. 5 and finalist of Roland-Garros 2019, in the quarter-final.
Her rival and runner-up in the WTA rankings, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, has an open part of the table. She will face the Russian Erika Andreeva in the opening before a possible quarter-final against the Greek Maria Sakkari, seeded no. 6.
For the last tournament of her career, the French Alizé Cornet was not varnished since she was drawn in the first round against the number 7 seed, the Chinese Qinwen Zheng.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron, editing by Kate Entringer)
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