French Open: Emma Raducanu faces qualifier in first round; Novak Djokovic gets tricky draw

2 years ago 25

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Dates: 22 May-5 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris
Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app

Britain's Emma Raducanu will make her French Open debut against a qualifier.

The 19-year-old US Open champion is seeded 12th at Roland Garros but has struggled with injury in the build-up to the clay-court Grand Slam.

British men's number one and 10th seed Cameron Norrie opens against French wildcard Manuel Guinard.

World number one Novak Djokovic is set for a difficult title defence after landing in the same half of the draw as Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

There are five Britons in the main draw, including Dan Evans, who will face Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo as he bids for a first win at Roland Garros.

Harriet Dart makes her French Open main-draw debut against Italian former quarter-finalist Martina Trevisan, while Heather Watson faces Elsa Jacquemot of France.

The French Open begins on Sunday.

Nadal, Djokovic & Alcaraz drawn in same half

Djokovic has a difficult path ahead of him in his first Grand Slam competition of the year.

The Serb gets his title defence under way against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and could potentially face long-time rival Nadal in the quarter-finals.

Australian Open champion Nadal, who is bidding for a record-extending 14th French Open crown, starts against Australia's Jordan Thompson.

Potentially awaiting in the semi-finals could be Alcaraz, who beat both Djokovic and Nadal on his way to the Madrid Open title last month and is counted among the favourites for the title.

The 19-year-old Spaniard will begin his tournament against a qualifier.

In the bottom half, world number two Daniil Medvedev starts against Facundo Bagnis of Argentina.

More to follow.

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