Nadal to face Zverev in opening match; Swiatek, Osaka likely to clash in Round Two

Third-seeded Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2023, plays a qualifier

Rafael Nadal will face World No. 4 Alexander Zverev in a blockbuster first round match at his farewell French Open while women’s champion Iga Swiatek and fellow four-time major winner Naomi Osaka are on a second round collision course. 

Defending men’s champion and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will face French veteran Pierre Hugues-Herbert in his opener. Nadal, who has won Roland Garros on 14 occasions, is unseeded after injury saw his ranking plummet to 276. He and Zverev met in the semi-finals in 2022 when the German was forced to retire after suffering a serious ankle injury. 

Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, will turn 38 next week and this season will be his last on tour. He holds a 7-3 winning head-to-head record against Germany’s Zverev with five of those victories coming on clay. Zverev, 27, arrives in Paris on the back of lifting the Rome Open title last weekend.

Following Thursday’s draw, Djokovic is seeded to face Zverev in the semi-finals. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner, who took Djokovic’s Australian Open title in January, faces Christopher Eubanks of the United States.

Third-seeded Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2023, plays a qualifier.

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