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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
JOE KRISHNAN

French Open draw: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Naomi Osaka discover first round opponents

The French Open main draw has been announced as reigning champions Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep discover their opponents for the first round.

Nadal, a 11-time winner at Roland Garros, has been handed a favourable draw as he will come up against an unnamed qualifier.

Roger Federer will begin his first French Open tournament since 2015 against the world number 73 Lorenzo Sonego in the first round.

It's a somewhat tougher match-up for Novak Djokovic, who suffered a shock quarter-final exit at the hands of unseeded Marco Cecchinato last year.

The world number one will play 22-year-old Hubert Hurkacz and will be hoping to avoid a similar upset against the Pole.

Edmund has a tough task in the first round against Chardy. (Getty Images)

For the British players in the draw, 29th seed Kyle Edmund is up against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Cameron Norrie is handed a juicy encounter with the fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios.

Dan Evans, who reached his best-ever finish at a Grand Slam after getting to the fourth round at the Australian Open, must beat the experienced 30th seed Fernando Verdasco to reach the second round at Roland Garros.

The women's draw also generated some intriguing encounters. Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, starts her tournament against the Ukrainian Vitalia Diatchenko.

World number one Naomi Osaka has won the last two slams and the Japanese has been drawn against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in round one, while reigning champion Halep has a tough task after being drawn against Ajla Tomljanovic.

It was a case of mixed fortunes for the British women who have made it to the main draw. Johanna Konta, seeded 26th for the tournament, will take on a qualifier in the first round, although the identity of her opponent is yet to be confirmed.

(EPA)

Katie Boulter faces a tough test against the number 23 seed Donna Vekic, while Heather Watson failed to make it past the qualifying round and will take no part in this year's tournament.

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