French Open 2023, men’s singles draw: Alcaraz, Djokovic in same half, could meet in semifinals

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz could meet two-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2023 French Open, as per the draw announced on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will begin his French Open campaign against a qualifier/lucky loser.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz could meet two-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2023 French Open, as per the draw announced on Thursday.

World No. 1 Alcaraz begins his campaign against a qualifier/lucky loser while Djokovic, who will eye a record-breaking 23rd Major, faces USA’s Aleksandar Kovacevic in the opening round.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal, who has lifted the Musketeers’ Cup 14 times in Paris, will miss his first French Open since 2004 because of a hip injury sustained at this year’s Australian Open. Casper Ruud, who lost to Nadal in last year’s summit clash, will take on a qualifier/lucky loser in the opening round with a potential quarterfinal against Denmark’s Holger Rune.

Second seed Daniil Medvedev, who won his first title on clay last week at the Italian Open in Rome, also faces a qualifier/lucky loser in the first round. The Russian could face Italy’s Jannik Sinner at the last-eight stage.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost to Djokovic in five sets in the 2021 final, faces Czech Jiri Vesely in the opening round. The fifth-seeded Greek could be up against Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

First-round clashes to keep an eye on

• [10] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA)
• [5] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE)
• [19] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs Wu Yibing (CHN)
• Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
• [30] Ben Shelton (USA) vs Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)
• [7] Andrey Rublev vs Laslo Djere (SRB)
• Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Sebastian Baez (ARG)
• [6] Holger Rune (DEN) vs Christopher Eubanks (USA)
• [9] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs Michael Mmoh (USA)
• [21] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) vs Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
• Zhizhen Zhang (CHN) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB)
• Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Pedro Cachin (ARG)