(Tennis news) In order to solidify his breakthrough clay-court season with a deep run at Roland Garros, where he is still chasing his first victory, Jack Draper will need to overcome a difficult draw at the French Open.
The fifth-seeded Draper will start against No. 68-ranked Italian left-hander Mattia Bellucci, who is also 23 years old. A career-best run in Paris may lead to a matchup with the top seed in the round of eight, and Draper has been drawn in Jannik Sinner’s quarterfinals.
In the past month, Draper has made significant progress on clay, a medium on which he had little to no prior high-level experience. Before making an incredible run to the quarterfinals in slower conditions at the Italian Open in Rome, he lost to Casper Ruud in his first tour-level final on the surface at the Madrid Open, a Masters 1000 tournament.
He has only made two appearances at Roland Garros. He lost in the first round last year after retiring from his 2023 first-round encounter because to an ailment that would also prevent him from competing at Wimbledon.
Emma Raducanu will try to solidify her positive form on clay when she competes against China’s Xinyu Wang, ranked 42nd in the globe. In the event that Raducanu prevails, she would most likely go up against Iga Swiatek, the three-time reigning champion, in round two.
Raducanu had a scare with an injury on Wednesday in Strasbourg, despite his recent, noteworthy progress on clay. Her campaign began with a thrilling victory against No. 17, Daria Kasatkina, her first clay-court match against a top-20 player. However, she suffered from back pains and lost to Danielle Collins in three sets.
Raducanu’s team said on Thursday that she was headed to Paris and fully recovered for the year’s second grand slam competition.
In other news, Sinner will take on Arthur Rinderknech, the home favourite, in Roland Garros, his second competition since coming back from a three-month anti-doping sentence. In an attempt to revitalise his season following a challenging stretch, sixth-seeded Novak Djokovic will take on American Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round.
Djokovic, who turned 38 on Thursday, is now in Sinner’s half and, if he can perform well in Paris, he may play third seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. The veteran former No. 4 Kei Nishikori, a three-time Roland Garros quarterfinalist, will face Carlos Alcaraz in the bottom half as he starts his championship defence.
The biggest question in either draw was the placement of Swiatek before her attempt to win a record fourth consecutive French Open title, and fifth overall, at the end of her most challenging clay-court season since she first reached No 1.
She has been handed an extremely difficult draw as she tries to pull off an astounding feat. No woman has won four consecutive French Open titles in the open era.
Swiatek has not won a title since her triumph at the French Open last year and after losing in the third round of the Italian Open, she fell to No 5 in the WTA rankings, meaning she could have been drawn against Aryna Sabalenka or Coco Gauff as early as the quarter-finals. She is instead projected to face Jasmine Paolini, the fourth seed and recent Italian Open champion, in the quarter-finals with a potential semi-final match with Sabalenka looming.
Sabalenka, the top seed, will open her tournament against Kamilla Rakhimova. The bottom half of the women’s draw is headed by Coco Gauff, a finalist in Madrid and Rome, who will begin her tournament against Australia’s Olivia Gadecki.
There will be numerous British players in action at Roland Garros. Katie Boulter will face a qualifier as she seeks her first main draw win in Paris. Jodie Burrage will tackle the in-form Collins and Sonay Kartal will play Erika Andreeva.
Jacob Fearnley, the British No 2, will make his French Open debut against the 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka and Cameron Norrie faces a tough first-round match against Daniil Medvedev, the 11th seed.
Also read: Carlos Alcaraz wins the Italian Open
