2017 French Open men's, women's draws released
The men's and women's draw for the 2017 French Open were released on Friday in Paris. The tournament begins two days later on May 28 and will be played until June 11.
Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber are the top seeds of the men's and women's tournaments, respectively. Murray reached the final of last year's event, falling to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
Garbine Muguruza is the defending champion on the women's side and she will begin her title defense against Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone. World No. 1 Angelique Kerber will start against Ekaterina Makarova in the first round.
Andy Murray was drawn into the same half as Stan Wawrinka, while Djokovic and Nadal were drawn into the bottom half of the draw. Djokovic is seeking his first major title of 2017, and first since winning at Roland Garros last year. He’ll start his quest for a second French Open title against Spain’s Marcel Granollers. 2016 finalist and World No. 1 Murray will face Andrey Kuznetsov in the first round.
The projected men’s quarterfinals are Murray vs. KeiNishikori, Stan Wawrinka vs. Marin Cilic, MilosRaonic vs. Nadal and Dominic Thiem vs. Djokovic. On the women’s side, the possible quarterfinals match-ups are Kerber vs. SvetlandaKuznetsova, Muguruza vs. DominikaCibulkova, ElinaSvitolina vs. SimonaHalep and Johanna Konta vs. KarolinaPliskova.
Notable absentees at Roland Garros include Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. The women's draw is wide open with Serena sidelined due to her pregnancy, while nine–time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal and Djokovic are considered the favorites on the men's side.
