French Open 2019: Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka pick up tricky draws

· Naomi Osaka: “I always had really big goals and dreams. I always thought I would be No1 and win a Grand Slam when I was 18. I know that sounds kind of crazy. When that didn’t happen, I was a little bit depressed. I was thinking, like, I’m kind of late to the party.”

· Rafael Nadal: “The final goal is if you are playing bad, just find solutions and try to fix it. If you are playing well, just do the things that help to hold that good moment… I feel myself playing well, being honest, and my goal is just to keep playing at that level.”

· Simona Halep: “I fought hard before lifting that trophy, but I’m still motivated because my career doesn’t stay in a Grand Slam or ranking. I play tennis because I love playing tennis.”

· British first-round line-up includes Konta, Edmund, Norrie, Evans

Naomi Osaka, who is aiming to be the first woman to win three Majors consecutively since Serena Williams managed the feat in 2015, has drawn a tough quarter if she is to retain the No1 ranking.

She needs to reach the final, but if she is to do that, she will first play No92 ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and then have to face either former champion Jelena Ostapenko or former world No1 Victoria Azarenka—both unseeded here this year.

Then comes, in the third round, one of the newest seeds, the fast rising and in-form Maria Sakkari. Fast forward to the quarters, and it could be three-time champion Serena Williams—though the mighty American has played and won just one match on clay since withdrawing after the third round here last year as she continued her return from birth complications.

If Osaka reaches the final, she is guaranteed to retain the No1 ranking, but to do that, she is likely to face defending champion Simona Halep or the in-form Petra Kvitova in the semis. If she falls short, strong runs by No2 Karolina Pliskova, No6 Petra Kvitova, No4 Kiki Bertens and No5 Angelique Kerber give any of them an outside chance of nabbing the top spot in a fortnight’s time.

The men’s top seed, Novak Djokovic, has no such concerns: He leads the tour by a country mile, and that is due in large part to his holding the other three Majors. He therefore has plenty of incentive to win his second French Open title: He could hold all four Majors at the same time—for the second time.

What is more, that would come as close to matching the record-breaking achievement of Rod Laver as any other player. Laver won all four Majors in the same year for the second time 50 years ago.

The route is not an easy one, with the 43-ranked Hubert Hurkacz, who is up from 188 a year ago, in the first round and then possibly Sam Querrey in the second—though the tall American, down at 62 after winning just nine matches this year, has not been the force of old.

Come the fourth round, there is youth aplenty in two tough seeds, Denis Shapovalov and Borna Coric, with Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini or Alexander Zverev scheduled for the quarters. In the semis, and the top seeds are last-year’s runner up Dominic Thiem—winner in Indian Wells and Barcelona—or Juan Martin del Potro, who took Djokovic to three sets in the Rome quarters but has won only four matches this year.

If Djokovic reaches the final, he is most likely to meet No2 seed and 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, whose clay form returned to its formidable best in winning the Rome Masters.

And the Spaniard’s quarter is perhaps the easiest of the four, especially in the early stages: two rounds of qualifiers, then the out-of-form David Goffin. Nishikori is scheduled for the quarters, and Roger Federer for the semis—though there are some formidable clay seeds in the Swiss man’s eighth, plus Tsitsipas, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic in his quarter. Federer has won four matches on clay ahead of the French Open, after a three-year absence from the clay season.

British Round 1s

Johanna Konta, seeded 26, plays a qualifier

Kyle Edmund, seeded 28, plays Jeremy Chardy

Cameron Norrie plays LL (scheduled Nick Kyrgios withdrew after draw)

Daniel Evans plays No23 seed Fernando Verdasco

NB Katie Boulter, who was drawn against No23 seed Donna Vekic, withdrew ahead of the tournament with ongoing back problems.

Men’s draw

Djokovic quarter

R1 Hurkacz

R2 Alexander Bublik or qualifier

R3 No26 seed Gilles Simon

R4 Seeds are No20 Shapovalov or No13 Coric

QF Top seeds are No9 Fognini and No5 seed Zverev

SF Top seeds are No4 Thiem and No8 del Potro

Thiem quarter

R1 Tommy Paul

R2 Querrey or qualifier

R3 No28 seed Edmund

R4 Seeds are No23 Verdasco and No14 Gael Monfils

QF Top seeds are No10 Karen Khachanov and No8 del Potro

SF Top seeds are No1 Djokovic and No5 Zverev

Federer quarter

R1 Lorenzo Sonego

R2 Malek Jaziri or qualifier

R3 No29 seed Matteo Berrettini

R4 Seeds are No16 Marco Cecchinato and No17 Diego Schwartzman

QF Top seeds are No11 Cilic and No6 Tsitsipas

SF Top seeds are No2 Nadal and No7 Nishikori

Nadal quarter

R1 Qualifier

R2 Qualifier

R3 No27 seed Goffin

R4 Seeds are No19 Guido Pella and No15 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili

QF Top seeds are No7 Nishikori and No12 Daniil Medvedev

SF Top seeds are No3 Federer and No6 Tsitsipas

Women’s draw

Osaka quarter

R1 Schmiedlova

R2 Ostapenko or Azarenaka

R3 No29 seed Sakkari

R4 Seeds are No24 Caroline Garcia and No14 Madison Keys

QF Top seeds are No10 Serena Williams and No8 Ashleigh Barty

SF Top seeds are No3 Halep and No6 Kvitova

Halep quarter

R1 Alja Tomljanovic

R2 Chloe Paquet or Linette Magda

R3 No27 seed Lesia Tsurenko

R4 Seeds are No21 Daria Kasatkina and No16 Qiang Wang

QF Top seeds are No11 Aryna Sabalenka and No6 Kvitova

SF Top seeds are No1 Osaka and No8 Barty

Bertens quarter

R1 Pauline Parmentier

R2 Alize Cornet or Viktoria Kuzmova

R3 No26 Konta

R4 Seeds are No23 Vekic and No15 Belinda Bencic

QF Top seeds are No9 Elina Svitolina and No7 Sloane Stephens

SF Top seeds are No2 Pliskova and No5 Kerber

Pliskova quarter

R1 Madison Brengle

R2 qualifier or Svetlana Kuznetsova

R3 No31 seed Petra Martik

R4 Seeds are No18 Julia Goerges and No13 Caroline Wozniacki

QF Top seeds are No5 Kerber and No12 Anastasija Sevastova

SF Top seeds are No4 Bertens and No7 Stephens

MORE: French Open 2019 preview: Former Champs, clay form, and dark horses – plus some key numbers

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