PARIS (AP) —

Rafael Nadal will start his bid for a record-extending 13th French Open title in opposition to Egor Gerasimov within the first spherical, whereas Serena Williams begins her try for a record-equaling 24th main in opposition to Kristie Ahn in all-American matchup.

The 34-year-old Nadal, who’s seeded second and has by no means confronted the 83rd-ranked Belarusian, is aiming to equal the absent Roger Federer’s males’s report of 20 Grand Slam titles.

The sixth-seeded Williams, who turns 39 on Saturday, fell brief in her bid to equal Margaret Court docket’s report on the U.S. Open, shedding to Victoria Azarenka within the semifinals. Williams has received the French Open thrice, the primary in 2002 and the final in 2015.

Thursday’s draw at Roland Garros additionally pitted top-ranked Novak Djokovic in opposition to No. 80 Mikael Ymer of Sweden of their first profession assembly.

Djokovic is making an attempt once more for an 18th main title.

Like Williams, he fell brief at Flushing Meadows however for a really totally different motive.

The 33-year-old Serb was kicked out for unintentionally hitting a line choose within the throat when angrily swiping away a tennis ball throughout a match. His solely title on the French was in 2016 and he misplaced the ultimate in ’14 to Nadal and ’15 to Stan Wawrinka.

The draw was carried out electronically as a result of there have been no gamers current amid a strict coronavirus well being and security protocol.

Wawrinka, seeded 16th, faces one other three-time main winner in Britain’s Andy Murray, the runner-up in 2016. Murray leads Wawrinka 12-Eight total however remains to be making an attempt to get again to his finest after having hip surgical procedure final 12 months.

Djokovic tuned up for this match with victory on the Italian Open, beating Diego Schwartzman within the remaining for a report 36th Masters title. Schwartzman beat a patchy Nadal within the quarterfinals – the Spaniard’s first match in seven months after he skipped the U.S. Open amid COVID-19 considerations.

Dominic Thiem, who beat Alexander Zverev in 5 units within the U.S. Open remaining for his first main, takes on big-hitting Marin Cilic of their first assembly at Roland Garros.

Thiem has misplaced the previous two finals at Roland Garros to Nadal.

Zverev performs Austrian Dennis Novak.

High-seeded Simona Halep, the 2018 champion and two-time runner-up, faces Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo.

U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka pulled out of the match with an injured hamstring.

Halep is seeded first as a result of No. 1 Ash Barty of Australia opted out of defending her title amid coronavirus considerations.

Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, seeded fourth, performs Russian Liudmila Samsonova; third-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine is up in opposition to Varvara Gracheva, and the 10th-seeded Azarenka faces Danka Kovinic.

Additionally, 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia takes on American Madison Brengle and the 40-year-old Venus Williams, runner-up to her sister in 2002, opens in opposition to Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Sloane Stephens, the 2018 runner-up, is seeded 29th and takes on Russian Vitalia Diatchenko.

The variety of followers allowed at Roland Garros has been set to five,000 per day, and match director Man Neglect is hoping that quantity is not going to be decreased additional after the federal government introduced on Wednesday {that a} new restrict of 1,000 individuals shall be imposed at huge occasions in huge cities amid rising coronavirus considerations. It is nonetheless unclear whether or not these tips will have an effect on Roland Garros, which begins on Sunday and ends on Oct. 11.

”The final we heard formally from the police prefecture was that 5,000 could be very, very protected,” Neglect mentioned. ”We’re enjoying the match on the dimensions of 15 soccer fields and an out of doors stadium.”

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