Rafael Nadal will begin his quest for an 11th Roland Garros title against Alexandr Dolgopolov, but all eyes in Paris will be on a loaded bottom half, which features Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, 2015 titlist Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and 2016 champion Novak Djokovic.

In-form second seed Zverev, the winner of 16 of his past 18 matches (and an ATP World Tour Tour-leading 30-8 overall), will have to beat Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis in his opener, with the prospect of a fourth-round clash against Wawrinka or Lucas Pouille. Thiem or Nishikori may then lie in wait for the recent BMW Open by FWU and Mutua Madrid Open champion in the quarter-finals.

World No. 8 Thiem, who has reached back-to-back Roland Garros semi-finals (2016-17), faces a qualifier, but may play Nishikori in the fourth round. Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist Nishikori faces French wild card Maxime Janvier in the first round, while former World No 3 Wawrinka, who was in action this week at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, challenges Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

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Former World No. 1 Djokovic, who is currently No. 22 in the ATP Rankings, starts against a qualifier, but could face fourth seed Dimitrov in the fourth round. The Serbian star, who underwent elbow surgery following the Australian Open in January, last week showed flashes of a return to peak form in losing to Nadal in the Rome semi-finals. Djokovic has a 59-12 record at the Paris major. Dimitrov, who is 16-10 in 2018 and has reached the Roland Garros third round on two previous occasions, starts against Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

World No. 1 Nadal has a 7-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against his first-round Ukrainian opponent Dolgopolov and could potentially meet Canadian Denis Shapovalov or American Jack Sock in the fourth round, prior to a potential quarter-final against sixth seed Kevin Anderson – who opens against Paolo Lorenzi of Italy. Nadal has suffered just two losses in 81 matches at the clay-court Grand Slam championship – to Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the 2009 fourth round and to Djokovic in the 2015 quarter-finals.

The Spanish superstar has a 19-1 clay-court record this year (23-2 overall), which includes 11th titles at both Monte-Carlo (d. Nishikori) and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Tsitsipas), in addition to an eighth crown at last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. A. Zverev).

World No. 4 Marin Cilic, who reached last year’s quarter-finals and is 18-8 in 2018, features in the second quarter of the draw alongside 2009 semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro. Cilic, who advanced to his first clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final last week in Rome, plays Australia’s James Duckworth and may face Fabio Fognini of Italy or Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in the fourth round.

Del Potro, who is recovering from a left leg injury, meets France’s Nicolas Mahut and could potentially meeting 2010 semi-finalist Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the fourth round. Del Potro went on a 15-match winning streak earlier this year (23-6 overall), including titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (d. Anderson) and his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open (d. Federer).

The 2018 Roland Garros draw ceremony was held at L’Orangerie, located in the botanical gardens of the site, featuring Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, three-time world figure skating champions (2015, 2016 and 2018) and winners of the silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang.

If you thought you could wait to get the popcorn cooking for Roland Garros, think again. There are plenty of intriguing matchups in the first round of the clay-court Grand Slam, and the ATP World Tour’s best are ready to put on a show on the Parisian terre battue.

Rafael Nadal v Alexandr Dolgopolov
Any time that Nadal, who has triumphed at Roland Garros a record 10 times, steps foot on the terre battue, it’s must-watch material. But the fact that Dolgopolov has beaten Nadal twice before (2-7) in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series makes this worth your attention that much more. The Ukrainian, who climbed as high as No. 13 in the ATP Rankings, failed to win a set in the pair’s first five matches. But the shotmaking right-hander beat the Spaniard at Indian Wells in 2014 and the following year at Queen’s Club, and has the talent to take the racquet out of many players’ hands.

So is Dolgopolov truly a threat to Nadal in the opening round in Paris? It is tough to make that declaration considering Nadal won 50 consecutive sets on clay, a record for most sets won in a row on a single surface, from 2017 Roland Garros through Madrid earlier this month. The Spaniard has won 39 of his 42 first-round sets in Paris, with two of those coming in a 2011 five-setter against John Isner. Nadal has conceded just more than nine games per match in his 13 opening-round wins. But the Ukrainian is one of the most aggressive players on the ATP World Tour, and will swing for winner after winner, for better or worse. But, if Nadal is able to neutralise the 29-year-old’s efforts and step into the baseline, as will likely be the case, expect the Spaniard to improve on his 79-2 record at Roland Garros.

Sam Querrey v Frances Tiafoe
This is a battle of Americans that would be plenty entertaining even if it were to occur in a later round in Paris. But the second-ranked player from the United States, Querrey, will attempt to hold off #NextGenATP Tiafoe’s charge in their second FedEx ATP Head2Head series meeting. Tiafoe has proven to be in great form this year, sitting at No. 4 in the ATP Race To Milan. The 20-year-old entered the season having never reached a tour-level quarter-final. But he won his first ATP World Tour crown at the Delray Beach Open and advanced to the final at the Millennium Estoril Open. Querrey, on the other hand, is just two spots off of his career-best ATP Ranking (No. 11) and looking to make an impact in France.

Querrey is at his best when dictating with his forehand at the first opportunity. And when the 30-year-old is able to do so, there are few players on the ATP World Tour who can stop him. But Tiafoe is one of the most athletic players on the circuit, and the #NextGenATP American will attempt to stave off the No. 12 seed’s aggressive play so he can take control himself. Look out for which player will make the most of their opportunities. When they played in Shanghai last October, Querrey saved nine of 10 break points en route to his victory. Tiafoe fell in five sets at Roland Garros last year. Will his newfound confidence allow him to break through on the terre battue?

Kyle Edmund v Alex de Minaur
Few players began the 2018 ATP World Tour campaign as well as Edmund and De Minaur. The current British No. 1 broke through to the Australian Open semi-finals, the best result of his career. Despite beginning the season outside the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings, #NextGenATP Aussie De Minaur battled to his first semi-final in Brisbane before advancing to his maiden ATP World Tour final in Sydney. By the way, the Aussie is just 19 years old. Yet, he has surged with the maturity of a veteran, climbing quickly to his current career-high of World No. 106.

The pair began their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry earlier this year on Estoril’s clay, with Edmund moving on in straight sets. The key lay in the second-serve stats — Edmund won 54 per cent of points on his second delivery, while de Minaur claimed just 38 per cent of his. The Brit will look to attack with his massive forehand whenever possible, especially with more time to set up on the Parisian clay. But the question that will be answered in this match will be simple: Will the Aussie manage to hold off Edmund’s offence long enough to counter-attack?

Philipp Kohlschreiber v Borna Coric
The duo’s most recent FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting was one of the wildest clashes on the ATP World Tour last season. In the Marrakech final, Kohlschreiber led by a break in both the second set and the third set, and even held five championship points to claim what would have been his eighth tour-level trophy. But instead, Coric stormed back to earn his maiden ATP World Tour title. Since then, the Croatian has qualified for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, made the semi-finals at Indian Wells this year and followed that up with a quarter-final showing in Miami.

So while Kohlschreiber is the No. 22 seed, Coric will make this a popcorn-worthy first-round match. It will be interesting to see which player will be able to hold his ground on the baseline. While Kohlschreiber stands 5’10” and Coric 6’1”, neither player shies away from being the aggressor in rallies. In fact, both have heavy forehands, and especially on the clay, they will look to keep one another deep in the court with heavy deliveries close to the baseline.

Lucas Pouille v Daniil Medvedev
Pouille-Medvedev is undoubtedly one of the first-round matchups to watch given their significant talents and success in 2018. Pouille triumphed in Montpellier before finishing runner-up in Marseille and Dubai. Medvedev followed up his 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualification by claiming his maiden ATP World Tour in Sydney. But Pouille has lost four of his past five matches and Medvedev has dropped four in a row, so both players will be at maximum focus in an attempt to get back on track.

There will be a clear contrast of styles as home favourite Pouille looks to thrill the French fans and gain a 3-0 lead in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The No. 15 seed is a rhythmic offensive player, who will look to dictate from the baseline with his forehand and keep the match on his racquet. Ironically, Medvedev’s style is predicated on throwing off an opponent’s rhythm. The Russian typically strikes the ball later than most players, and generally hits relatively flat shots off both wings. Pouille won the pair’s most recent meeting last year in Shanghai 6-4, 6-2. But don’t be deceived by the score — Medvedev won just six fewer points in the match.

Fabio Fognini celebrated his 31st birthday with a quarter-final victory on Thursday at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. The second-seeded Italian recovered from a 2-5 deficit in the first set en route to beating American Tennys Sandgren 7-6(3), 7-6(5) in just under two hours.

This year’s Argentina Open champion (d. Jarry) led 3-0 in the second set and had the first of his four match-point opportunities at 6-5, Ad-Out, on Sandgren’s serve. Fognini will next attempt to beat Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk, who defeated seventh seed Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3.

American Steve Johnson got the better of another player contesting two singles matches on Thursday, Guido Pella, 6-3, 6-4 for a place in the semi-finals. He will next play third seed and two-time defending champion Stan Wawrinka or Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics on Friday.

Earlier in the day, World No. 81 Pella beat top seed Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) in two hours and 33 minutes, while Johnson defeated qualifier Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in just under two hours. Pella had also beaten Querrey in a third set tie-break last month in the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship second round.

Did You Know?
Fabio Fognini, who fell to Rafael Nadal in last week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals, is six spots off his career-high of No. 13 in the ATP Rankings (31 March 2013).

Cameron Norrie showed few signs of nerves on Thursday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon when he recorded the first Top 10 win of his career.

The Briton, who will break into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings on Monday, saved all four break points he faced to defeat World No. 10 John Isner, the second seed this week, 7-6(1), 6-4 in 85 minutes.

Isner, who lost his serve once in the first game of the second set, struck 10 aces. The 33-year-old American captured his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at the Miami Open presented by Itau (d. A. Zverev) on 1 April.

Norrie, 22, will next play France’s Gilles Simon in his first ATP World Tour semi-final. Simon required two hours and 37 minutes to beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

Dominic Thiem’s quarter-final against Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was suspended because of darkness tied one-set all. Garcia-Lopez took the first set 7-6(4), but Thiem ran away with the second-set tie-break, 7-6(0). Thiem is playing in his fifth quarter-final of the season (Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco, Monte-Carlo and Barcelona).

The winner of Thiem vs. Garcia-Lopez will meet Serbian Dusan Lajovic, who hit seven aces and won 80 per cent of his second-serve points (12/15) during a 7-5, 6-1 victory against #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz.

Did You Know?
Cameron Norrie, the British No. 3, had not played a clay-court match until February 2018.