Williams could face Sharapova
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova could meet in the fourth round of the French Open thanks to the draw yesterday.
But a matchup between threetime champion Williams and twotime champion Sharapova is far from guaranteed.
Williams resumes her comeback after maternity leave following two consecutive losses in March. She will open against 70th-ranked Kristyna Pliskova, of the Czech Republic.
This will be Williams’ first grand slam event since giving birth to her daughter in September. She hasn’t played at a grand slam since winning the Australian Open in January 2017 while pregnant.
Ranked No 453, Williams entered Roland Garros under the WTA’s protected ranking rule but has not been granted a seed by organisers. Without a seeding, Williams was drawn in the same quarter as Sharapova, who was seeded 28th.
While nobody really knows what to expect from Williams, Sharapova had a chance to fine-tune her claycourt game last week in Rome and made it to the semifinals, beating reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and losing a three-setter to top-ranked Simona Halep
Halep will open against Alison Riske, and Ostapenko will take on Kateryna Kozlova, of Ukraine.
Ostapenko, who last year became the first unseeded player to win the women’s title since 1933, was handed a tricky draw as she could face former No 1 Victoria Azarenka in the second round.
The tournament Monday.
In the men’s draw, 10-time champion and overwhelming favourite Rafael Nadal will open against Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Nadal is arriving in Paris on the back of another impressive claycourt season. He is 19-1 on his favoured surface, having lost just one match in the Madrid quarterfinals this month against Dominic Thiem.
‘‘Having enjoyed the success I had over the last couple of weeks helps to be here with a bit more confidence,’’ Nadal said at the draw.
The seventh-seeded Thiem, who ended Nadal’s streaks on clay of 21 wins and 50 sets won, will face a qualifier in the first round. He is in second-seeded Alexander Zverev’s quarter and can’t meet Nadal before the final.
Former champion Novak Djokovic was drawn in the same half as Thiem and Zverev. He will open against a qualifier. starts on