The draw for the French Open took place on Thursday. Men's defending champion Novak Djokovic, who beat Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in last year's final, could face a thrilling encounter against the 13-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal in his side of the draw.

Djokovic starts his defence against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, while Nadal is paired with Australian Jordan Thompson in the first round.

Nadal's fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz also joins them in the top half as the sixth seed. He could face Djokovic or Nadal in the semifinals. The 19-year-old holds a tour-leading 23-3 clay record over last year and will be making his second appearance at this Grand Slam. He is placed in third seeded German Alexander Zverev's quarter.

US Open champion Daniil Medvedev anchors the draw on its bottom line, with Russia's Andrey Rublev, seeded seventh, a potential quarter-final opponent. Last year's runner-up Tsitsipas is in the third quarter alongside eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway.

On the women's side, world number one and favourite Iga Swiatek is at the top of the draw, and will open against a qualifier as she seeks to extend her 28-match winning streak. The 2020 title holder could face former champion Simona Halep of Romania in the fourth round for the third time in four years.

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, who has not played since February because of an elbow injury, drew to the bottom half as the second seed and the Czech will meet France's Diane Parry in the opener.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur enters Roland-Garros with a 17-3 mark on clay with her maiden WTA 1000 trophy in Madrid, has been sent to the third quarter and could face two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic and last year's US Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain in the third and fourth rounds.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka will take on 27th seed Amanda Anisimova first. The Japanese former world number one missed two match points in a loss to the American in the third round at Melbourne Park as defending champion in 2022 and after a slide down the rankings to number 85 as recently as February, she has since returned to the top 40.

China's Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang lead the Chinese squad into the main draw. Zhang will kick off her campaign against  28th seeded Italian Camila Giorgi, as Wang to face 11th seed Jessica Pegula of United States first. Two other Chinese players, Wang Xinyu and Zheng Qinwen, will face Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Belgian Maryna Zanevska.