World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will begin her campaign for a maiden French Open title with a first-round clash against Kamilla Rakhimova, as per the draw held at Roland Garros, Paris, on Thursday.
Fifth seed and four-time champion Iga Swiatek will take on Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia in her tournament opener.
The 23-year-old Pole has a tough road towards a potential fifth title at the clay Major as she could be up against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk as early as the third round. In the round of 16, Swiatek could face former champion Jelena Ostapenko, who holds a 6-0 head-to-head record against her.
Swiatek is in the same half as Sabalenka and could face the big-hitting Belarusian in the semifinals.
“This season has had ups and down, but I know my game is there,” Swiatek said after the draw, which was made by Paris St Germain and France forward Ousmane Dembele.
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Second seed and 2022 runner-up Coco Gauff will be up against Australia’s Olivia Gadecki.
Fourth seed and home favourite Jasmine Paolini, who lost to Swiatek in last year’s final, will take on Yue Yuan of China.
The projected quarterfinals are – Sabalenka vs eighth-seeded Chinese Qinwen Zheng, Paolini vs Swiatek, sixth-seeded Russian Mirra Andreeva vs third-seeded American Jessica Pegula, and reigning Australian Open champion and seventh seed Madison Keys against fellow American Gauff.
First-round matches to watch out:-
- Petra Kvitova (CZE) vs Viktorija Golubic (SUI)
- Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Wang Xinyu (CHN)
- [2] Coco Gauff (USA) vs Olivia Gadecki (AUS)
- [10] Paula Badosa (ESP) vs Naomi Osaka (JPN)
- [12] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs Belinda Bencic (SUI)
- [6] Mirra Andreeva vs Cristina Bucsa (ESP)
Full Draw
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com