Who to take back the vacant throne of Rafael Nadal? Serbia's Novak Djokovic, world No. 3, seeking a 23rd Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, world No. 1, the two favorites, could face each other in the semifinals, according to the draw made Thursday, May 25. On the women's side, chance placed world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland and Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, winner of the Rome Masters, in the same draw.

The defending champion and 14-time winner, Spain's Rafael Nadal, withdrew before the start of the tournament, insufficiently recovered from a muscle injury to his hip that he suffered in the second round of the Australian Open in January.

Tsitsipas on the road to Alcaraz

The big question was whether the tournament's two main favourites, Alcaraz and Djokovic, could face each other before the final, with the Serb dropping to third in the world. So fate decided yes by placing him in the Spaniard's half of the table. For Alcaraz, 20, after a first round against a player from qualifying, the road seems clear until the quarterfinals where the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th), finalist in 2021, would await him.

At 36, Djokovic will start his journey against American Aleksandar Kovacevic (114th) by aiming for a quarter probably against Russian Andrey Rublev (7th).

At the bottom of the table, Ukraine's Andrei Medvedev, who created a surprise by winning his first clay-court title in Rome last week, will start against a player from the qualifiers and head to a theoretical quarter against Italy's Jannik Sinner (8th).

đź’Ą Potential quarter-final clashes in the men's draw

đź’ĄAlcaraz vs. Tsitsipas
Djokovic vs. Rublev
Rune vs. Ruud
Sinner vs. Medvedev#RolandGarros

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2023

The other quarter should pit the Danish rising star Holger Rune (6th), finalist this year in Monte-Carlo and Rome, against Casper Ruud, the Norwegian finalist at Roland-Garros last year. Germany's Alexander Zverev (27th), who heavily injured his right ankle last year in the semifinals against Nadal and ended his season, will make his debut against South African Lloyd Harris (306th).

In addition, fate was severe with the Frenchman Benoît Paire (149th) who, beneficiary of an invitation, will be opposed to the British Cameron Norrie (14th).

The two French hopefuls Luca van Assche (79th) and Arthur Fils (112th), finalists of Roland-Garros juniors in 2021, could face each other in the second round of the main draw this year, provided that the first beats the Italian Marco Cecchinato (73rd) and the second defeats the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (34th).

Coco Gauff vs. Iga Swiatek in the quarters?

On the women's side, world No. 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland and Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, who won the title in Rome, are in the same half of the draw at Roland Garros and will not be able to meet before the semifinals. The other theoretical semifinal would pit Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka (N.2) against American Jessica Pegula (N.3).

France's Caroline Garcia (N.5) could be on the road to Sabalenka in the quarters. Lyon will face China's Xiyu Wang in the first round. American Coco Gauff, beaten in last year's final by Swiatek, is on Iga Swiatek's path on the horizon of the quarterfinals.

The main poster of the first round will see two former winners of major tournaments compete: Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who won titles in Melbourne in 2012 and 2013, and Canada's Bianca Andreescu, who won the 2019 US Open.

With AFP

The summary of the week France 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app