Defending champion Novak Djokovic and the 13-times winner Rafael Nadal are on a quarter-final collision course at the French Open after being drawn in the same bracket.
Djokovic and Nadal last met in the semifinals the previous year where the Serb prevailed in 4 sets.
World number one Djokovic will compete in his first Grand Slam of the year after being deported from Australia ahead of the Australian Open for his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid.
He will start his campaign against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
The Serb faces a tall task of retaining his crown with Nadal as well as in-form Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz- who already holds a win over Djokovic- and world number three Alexander Zverev all on his side of the draw.
In the lower part of the draw, last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas faces a tricky first-round match against Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Musetti managed to take Djokovic to five sets in the fourth round last year.
Tsitsipas, with one clay crown under his belt, will be confident of his chances.
World number two Daniil Medvedev could take on compatriot Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals after Russian players were allowed to compete this year despite their country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Wimbledon is the only grand slam to bar Russian and Belarusian players from taking part in the tournament.
In the women’s draw, hot favorite Iga Swiatek, looking to secure her second French Open title in three years, could face former champion Jelena Ostapenko in the last 16.
Ostapenko is the player to have beaten the world number one before she started her 28-match unbeaten streak.
Swiatek has won five titles en route to the French Open.
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova is on a last-16 collision course with former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the lower part of the draw.
Naomi Osaka, who withdrew from the tournament last year after skipping her media duties and citing mental health issues, has been drawn to face American Amanda Anisimova, the 27th seed.
The French Open, which starts on Sunday, will operate at full capacity for the first time in three years after the last two tournaments were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
