The men’s and women’s draws for the 2017 French Open have been made official, and there will be some interesting and intriguing matches that could unfold over the next fortnight.
We start with the men’s draw, where last year’s finalists Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are on opposite sides of the draw, meaning they cannot face each other until the final at the earliest.
Murray will face Russian Andrey Kuznetsov in his first match, after which he could face Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych in the third and fourth rounds respectively.
This will be del Potro’s first appearance at Roland Garros since 2012, when he went down to Roger Federer in the quarter-finals after having led by two sets to love. He missed the 2013 tournament due to illness, and was absent from the past three tournaments due to a wrist injury.
American 13th seed John Isner is in this section of the draw, and looms as a potential third round opponent for Berdych, a semi-finalist in 2010.
Recent Rome champion Alexander Zverev and former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori could then await top seed Murray in the quarter-finals.
Zverev opens against Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, with Pablo Cuevas looming as his potential third round opponent. Nishikori, who starts against Thanasi Kokkinakis, looms in the round of 16.
The other leading seed in the top half of the draw is 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, who will start his bid for a second French Open title against either a qualifier or a lucky loser.
His first seeded threat comes in the form of Italy’s Fabio Fognini, a quarter-finalist in 2011, with 2008 semi-finalist Gael Monfils set to await in the fourth round should the Swiss get this far once again.
Either local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or seventh seed Marin Cilic could then await in the quarter-finals. Also in this section is Australian 18th seed Nick Kyrgios (who starts against Philipp Kohlschreiber), and former finalist David Ferrer (Donald Young).
We now move down to the bottom half of the draw, where Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic are the leading names to watch out for.
Raonic, who has struggled with injury this year, starts against Belgium’s Steve Darcis, with Gilles Muller, who at 34 is seeded at a major for the first time in his career at 26th, looming as his third round opponent.
11th seed Grigor Dimitrov could then await in the round of 16, and if he gets past that he will have his work cut out trying to bring down the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in the quarter-finals.
(Mike Egerton/PA via AP)
The Spaniard will begin his bid for the ‘La Decima’ against Frenchman Benoit Paire, with Gilles Simon, Jack Sock and Roberto Bautista-Agut looming as his seeded obstacles on the path to the quarter-finals.
Further down the draw, sixth seed and 2016 semi-finalist Dominic Thiem faces Bernard Tomic in his first match, with 10th seed David Goffin set to await in Round 4.
If the pair meet, it will be one round earlier than last year, the pair having met at the quarter-final stage twelve months ago. They also met in the fourth round at the Australian Open in January, with Goffin winning that one.
At the bottom of the draw, Novak Djokovic will start his title defence against Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who reached the fourth round last year after Rafael Nadal withdrew mid-tournament.
The Serb could then face compatriot Janko Tipsarevic in the second round, followed by 32nd seed Mischa Zverev in the third round and then Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the fourth.
He would then have to get past any of Goffin or Thiem for a possible shot at Nadal in the semi-finals.
Barring any major upsets, below is what could happen from the quarter-finals onwards.
Quarter-finals
[1] Andy Murray (GBR) versus [8] Kei Nishikori (JPN)
[3] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) versus [7] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[5] Milos Raonic (CAN) versus [4] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[6] Dominic Thiem (AUT) versus [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Semi-finals
[1] Andy Murray (GBR) versus [3] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) versus [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Final
[3] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) versus [4] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Champion
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
In the women’s draw, the top two seeds, Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova, are also on opposite sides of the draw which means the earliest they could meet each other is in the final.
Top seed Kerber, a first round loser last year, faces a tricky opening match, starting against Russian left-hander Ekaterina Makarova, who in recent years has developed a habit of beating the big names at majors.
The German could then face Lesia Tsurenko for the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament, after the Ukrainian took her to three sets in the first round of the Australian Open in January.
Italian veteran Roberta Vinci is her first seeded obstacle, after which she could face one of two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur in the round of 16.
Kvitova is set to step onto a tennis court for the first time in 2017 after a hand injury suffered during a robbery before Christmas last year saw her sidelined for five months. She faces Julia Boserup in her comeback match.
Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova could then await in the quarter-finals, though the Russian also has some tough obstacles to encounter, including possibly facing former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.
Last year’s surprise semi-finalist, Kiki Bertens, is in this section of the draw and she could face Wozniacki in the third round. Before that, though, she starts against Ajla Tomljanovic, who is on the comeback trail after a shoulder injury kept her out of the game for over twelve months.
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza is the leading name in the second quarter of the draw and she will start her title defence against former champion Francesca Schiavone, who is set to retire at the end of this year.
After that, the Spaniard should not encounter any more tricky opponents until Round 4, where any of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (seeded at a major for the first time at age 35, at 2second) or Kristina Mladenovic could await.
Further down the draw, 2009 semi-finalist Dominika Cibulkova kicks off her draw against Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena, with 10th seed Venus Williams or 24th seed Daria Gavrilova looming as her pre-quarter-final obstacles.
Former world number one Jelena Jankovic is also in this section of the draw, and looms as a potential second round opponent for Gavrilova.
We now move further down the draw, where recent Rome champion Elina Svitolina and Madrid titlist Simona Halep could meet in the quarter-finals.
Svitolina, the fifth seed, kicks off her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title against Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, with Croatia’s Ana Konjuh looming as her first seeded obstacle in her path to glory.
The Ukrainian is projected to face 12th seed Madison Keys in the fourth round; Keys, who missed the Australian Open due to injury, faces Ashleigh Barty in her opening match.
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard is in this section of the draw and looms as a potentially tricky third round opponent for the American.
(Carine06 / Flickr)
Halep, the bookies’ favourite for the title, starts against Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova, with Russian 14th seed Elena Vesnina looming as her major seeded threat in the fourth round.
The seventh section of the draw is led by Great Britain’s Johanna Konta, who will be hoping to break her Roland Garros duck when she faces Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-wei in her first match.
If she reaches the round of 16, then ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska could await. The Pole starts against French wildcard Fiona Forro and has a relatively easy run to the fourth round.
The bottom of the draw is anchored by second seed Karolina Pliskova, who has a remote chance of claiming the world number one ranking, if she reaches the final and Angelique Kerber loses in the opening round.
Pliskova starts against China’s Zheng Saisai and shouldn’t be troubled until the fourth round, where 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova could pose a formidable challenge.
The Czech has never been past the second round at Roland Garros and with the easy draw she has received there will be no excuses.
Barring any major upsets, below is what could happen from the quarter-finals onwards:
Quarter-finals
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER) versus [8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
[4] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) versus [6] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
[5] Elina Svitolina (UKR) versus [3] Simona Halep (ROU)
[7] Johanna Konta (GBR) versus [2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
Semi-finals
[8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) versus [4] Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
[3] Simona Halep (ROU) versus [2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
Final
[8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) versus [3] Simona Halep (ROU)
Champion
[3] Simona Halep (ROU)
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