French Open draw puts Djokovic and Nadal on course to meet in quarter-finals, Alcaraz could face winner in last 4
- Djokovic faces 94th-ranked Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the first round, Nadal takes on Australia’s Jordan Thompson
- Alcaraz opens second grand slam of the year against a qualifier and could face Sebastian Korda in last 32
Defending champion Novak Djokovic, 13-time winner Rafael Nadal and new teenage star Carlos Alcaraz have been drawn in the same half of the French Open.
World No 1 Djokovic and Nadal, ranked fifth, are seeded to meet as early as the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz, 19, is bidding to become just the eighth teenager to win a grand slam men’s title.
He could face either Djokovic or Nadal, who holds a record 21 majors, in the semi-finals in a top-heavy draw for the second major tournament of the season.
“I am very motivated to play my best tennis,” said two-time French Open champion and 20-time major winner Djokovic. “In Paris, I always play very strong. Last year, it was the toughest major that I had won.”
Djokovic had to twice come from two sets down last year to beat Lorenzo Musetti in the last-16 and Stefanos Tsitspas in the final having also beaten Nadal from a set behind in a bruising semi-final.
“Musetti, Rafa, Tsitsipas – every match lasted more than three hours. It was exhausting but I loved the outcome.”