Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in the same half of the French Open draw

Novak Djokovic could face world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open semifinals after both players were placed in the same half of the draw on Thursday. Djokovic is seeking a record 23rd men’s Grand Slam title in the absence of the injured Rafael Nadal, who will miss the tournament at Roland Garros for the first time since his title debut in 2005. Third-seeded Djokovic, the 2016 Roland Garros champion and In 2021, he will face 114th-ranked American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round in Paris, the first French Open since 1998 without Nadal or the now-retired Roger Federer.

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Kovacevic, 24, is making his Grand Slam main draw debut.

Djokovic, who turned 36 on Monday, has been plagued by a recurrence of a right elbow injury that has disrupted his clay-court season.

He was unable to go past the last eight in any of the three events he played on clay this spring, losing his number one ranking to Alcaraz.

Djokovic has also fallen behind Daniil Medvedev in the rankings after the Russian succeeded him as Italian Open champion last weekend.

US Open champion Alcaraz and Medvedev begin their Roland Garros campaigns against a qualifier or lucky loser.

Alcaraz faces a challenging path to a second Grand Slam title, with Lorenzo Musetti a potential round of 16 foe before 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas potentially awaits him in the quarterfinals.

For Djokovic to stage a big quarterfinal clash with Alcaraz, he may need to get past Monte Carlo Masters champion Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals.

Casper Ruud, who was thrashed by Nadal in last year’s final, is the fourth seed and is playing a qualifier in his first match.

In-form Holger Rune arrives in Paris with six in the world and takes on Christopher Eubanks of the USA in the first round.

Swiatek faces the threat of Rybakina

Two-time women’s champion Iga Swiatek begins her title defense against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, the world number 67 who was defeated by the Pole in the third round of this year’s Australian Open.

The top-ranked Swiatek, who is bidding to become the first consecutive women’s champion at the French Open in 16 years, is coming off a thigh injury that forced her to withdraw in Rome.

She is seeded to face 2022 runner-up Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals and could face Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, winner of the Italian Open last week, in the quarterfinals.

Rybakina has beaten Swiatek three times this season, knocking her out of the Australian Open in Melbourne and Indian Wells before advancing when injury halted her rival in Rome.

Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 winner, could wait for Swiatek in the round of 16. The Czech lost in the first round a year ago.

“This is my favorite tournament. I always have this extra motivation to practice more here. I’m very excited to be here,” Swiatek said during the draw ceremony.

Aryna Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam crown in Melbourne, plays Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the first round. Sabalenka has never made it past the third round in Paris despite reaching at least the semifinals at the other three majors.

Furthermore, her title in Madrid this spring was followed by a first outing at the hands of 134th-ranked Sofia Kenin in Rome.

Third seed Jessica Pegula has a tough opening match against fellow American and Australian Open 2022 finalist Danielle Collins, while Rybakina earns a qualifier first.

Seeded seventh, Ons Jabeur is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Rybakina, who defeated the Tunisian in the 2022 Wimbledon final. Jabeur also finished second to Swiatek at the US Open.

Rybakina, a Russian-born Kazakh, has yet to make it past the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

French fifth seed Caroline Garcia meets China’s Wang Xiyu as two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka takes on 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the first round.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)