The Roland Garros draw has thrown up a host of intriguing first-round matchups as the ATP Tour’s finest seek a fast start at the 2023 edition of the clay-court Grand Slam.

With the action set to kick off on Sunday in Paris, ATPTour.com highlights five first-round matches to watch.

[10] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs. Fabio Fognini [ITA]
The 10th-seeded Auger-Aliassime faces one of the ATP Tour’s biggest entertainers first up in Paris. The 35-year-old Fognini, an eight-time tour-level titlist on clay and former Roland Garros quarter-finalist, will be a stern opening test for the Canadian, who won their only previous ATP Head2Head meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 2019.

Auger-Aliassime has struggled to find his best level on the European clay this year (he holds a 1-2 record) but is into the quarter-finals this week in Lyon. The former Top 10 star Fognini may have dropped to No. 130 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but the Italian has made a habit of rising to the big occasion.

[14] Cameron Norrie (GBR) vs. Benoit Paire (FRA)
Few occasions faze the rock-solid Norrie, but taking on the unpredictable Paire in front of a partisan French crowd is sure to test the Briton’s mental resilience. Norrie beat the former World No. 18 on hard courts in Auckland in 2019 and at the 2022 US Open: Can he do it again on the Parisian clay?

[19] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs. Wu Yibing (CHN)
Bautista Agut has twice reached the fourth round at Roland Garros but will be wary of the threat of Wu, who became the first Chinese ATP Tour champion in history in February in Dallas. Bautista Agut will attempt to exploit Wu’s relative lack of experience on clay in the pair’s maiden tour-level meeting.

Before he beat Richard Gasquet in Rome earlier this month, Wu had never won a tour-level match on clay. Yet the 23-year-old now has three victories on the surface and could make it four when he steps on court for his quarter-final in Geneva on Thursday.

[21] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) vs. Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
Struff arrives in Paris in red-hot form after he reached the Monte-Carlo quarter-finals as a qualifier and the Madrid final as a lucky loser. Now at a career-high No. 26 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the German will need to bring his free-flowing best to hold off the 21-year-old Lehecka, a finalist at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals.

After his strong display in Milan, Lehecka made his mark on the Grand Slam stage by reaching the quarter-finals at January’s Australian Open. Despite a modest run of results on the clay so far this year, the Czech has the power to compete with Struff from the baseline.

[30] Ben Shelton (USA) vs. Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)
#NextGenATP Shelton’s year of discovery on the ATP Tour continues with his debut at Roland Garros. Shelton had not left the United States prior to last December, but now enters a Grand Slam as a seeded player for the first time. Italy’s Sonego, who possesses one of the most aggressive gamestyles on Tour, will seek revenge for his defeat to the American in Cincinnati last year.

Shelton competed on red clay for the first time in his career, including as a junior, in Estoril in April, and has notched two tour-level wins on the surface. The Australian Open quarter-finalist will look to deploy his big lefty serve to good effect as he looks to kick-start another deep run at a major.

Defending champion Cameron Norrie maintained his impressive record at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon Thursday when he overcame sixth seed Sebastian Baez 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

The Briton holds a 13-3 record at the ATP 250 clay-court event, having advanced to the final in 2021 before he lifted the trophy in 2022. The second seed produced a dominant performance in the third set against Baez to reach the semi-finals in Lyon for the fourth time.

“The second set he came back strong. He was winning the tougher games like I was in the first set. I tried to reset and came out with a lot of energy,” Norrie said. “I have won a lot of three-set matches this year, so I had a lot of confidence going into the decider and I thought it was a solid match.”

Norrie looked to dictate on the forehand and was aggressive on return in the decider, winning 55 per cent (6/11) of points on Baez’s first serve in the third set to advance after one hour and 53 minutes.

Norrie leads Baez 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the Argentine in the quarter-finals in Lyon last year. Earlier this season, the World No. 14 captured his fifth tour-level title on clay in Rio de Janeiro. Norrie will next play Francisco Cerundolo.

In the first quarter-final of the day, Cerundolo moved past British lefty Jack Draper 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The fourth-seeded Argentine recovered from a set-and-a-break down, raising his intensity and level as the match went on to advance to his first tour-level semi-final since Hamburg in 2022.

Cerundolo is chasing his second title on clay, having triumphed in Bastad last season. The 24-year-old has won five of his past six matches on clay after reaching the quarter-finals in Rome.

Brandon Nakashima defeated third seed Tommy Paul 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach his first semi-final of the season.

The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals champion arrived in Lyon holding a 3-6 record on the season. However, the 21-year-old has regained his best form in France to move to within two wins of his second tour-level title (San Diego 2022).

Nakashima recovered from squandering three match points on serve at 5-4 in the second set, eventually advancing after one hour and 49 minutes.

The World No. 52 will meet #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils in the semi-finals after Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrew before their match due to a right shoulder injury.

“I’m very sorry I had to withdraw from my match tonight at the @openparcara. I have been struggling with some pain in my shoulder for a few days and I tried my best to get ready for today’s match but I didn’t feel competitive enough in the end,” Auger-Aliassime wrote on Instagram. “Time to assess the issue and do everything I can to be ready for Roland Garros.”

Could this be the week that Taylor Fritz breaks his clay-court trophy duck on the ATP Tour?

The 25-year-old sent out a statement to the rest of the field Thursday at the Gonet Geneva Open, where he raced past Ilya Ivashka 6-1, 6-2 with a blistering quarter-final performance at the clay-court ATP 250.

Fritz battled through a three-set test against Marcos Giron in his opening match in Geneva but had no such trouble brushing past the World No. 86 Ivashka in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting. Striking powerfully and with depth off both wings throughout, the second seed broke his opponent’s serve twice in each set and did not face a break point on his own delivery in the 51-minute encounter.

Fritz flies forwards 👉

He takes the win 6-1, 6-2 against Ivashka 🔥
@genevaopen | #atpgva pic.twitter.com/MVkZC5UgTI

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 25, 2023

With his 29th tour-level victory of the season, Fritz advanced to his third tour-level clay-court semi-final of 2023. Having fallen in the final four in Monte-Carlo and Munich, the American will hope to maintain his level in Geneva as he chases his maiden ATP Tour championship match appearance on clay.

Standing in his way of that goal will be Grigor Dimitrov or Christopher O’Connell, who meet in the second quarter-final of the day on Thursday.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have landed in the same half of the Roland Garros draw.

The Spaniard, who has captured three trophies on clay this season, could meet third seed Djokovic in the semi-finals, with 2021 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas drawn in the 20-year-old’s quarter.

Alcaraz is making his third appearance at the clay-court Grand Slam, having advanced to the quarter-finals in 2022. The top seed will open against a qualifier and is seeded to play 14th seed Cameron Norrie in the fourth round. Fifth seed Tsitsipas, who is in the same section as Felix Auger-Aliassime, is a potential quarter-final opponent for Alcaraz.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Italian Lorenzo Musetti are also in a stacked top quarter of the draw. Shapovalov is a potential third-round opponent for Alcaraz, while Musetti, who pushed Djokovic to five sets in Paris in 2021, is in the same section as Norrie.

Two-time champion Djokovic, who is aiming to win a record 23rd Grand Slam title in Paris, will start against American Aleksandar Kovacevic. The Serbian is in the same section as Hubert Hurkacz, with seventh seed Andrey Rublev a possible quarter-final opponent. Rublev captured the Monte-Carlo title last month and faces Laslo Djere in the first round.

#NextGenATP American Ben Shelton is in the same section as Rublev. The 20-year-old Shelton, who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, had never competed on red clay before this year. Shelton will face a tough opening test against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

Second seed Daniil Medvedev anchors the bottom half of the draw. The 27-year-old rose to No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after winning his first clay-court title last week in Rome. Medvedev’s victory in Italy ensured he would be seeded second in Paris, making it possible for Alcaraz and Djokovic to be drawn in the same half.

Medvedev will face a qualifier in the first round and could play Jannik Sinner or two-time semi-finalist Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals. The eighth-seeded Italian Sinner opens against Frenchman Alexandre Muller, while Zverev plays South African Lloyd Harris. Sinner, currently 28-7 on the season, has reached three tour-level finals this year, including his second ATP Masters 1000 title match in Miami.

Last year’s finalist Casper Ruud, who has won nine of his 10 tour-level titles on clay, is seeded to meet Medvedev in the semi-finals. The Norwegian begins against a qualifier and is in the same quarter as Holger Rune, who Ruud beat in the quarter-finals last season. Rune, who defeated Ruud en route to the Rome final, might face ninth seed Taylor Fritz in the fourth round. Tommy Paul is also in that section. The American, currently 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, advanced to the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January.

A number of interesting first-round matches were drawn, with Madrid finalist Jan-Lennard Struff meeting the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Jiri Lehecka and Auger-Aliassime facing Italian Fabio Fognini. Former champion Stan Wawrinka starts against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, with their previous meeting coming in Paris in 2016.

The Swiss clay continues to be a happy hunting ground for Casper Ruud.

The World No. 4 kicked off his Gonet Geneva Open campaign in style on Wednesday with a 6-3, 7-5 second-round triumph against J.J. Wolf. An early break in the first set and a late break in the second were enough to set the 2021 and 2022 champion on the way to an 81-minute victory.

“I feel great. It’s a great win for me,” said Ruud in his on-court interview. “J.J. is a very aggressive, tough player to play against, a very tough opponent. I started the match great, got a break early, and also won in the end luckily… Happy to be here again tomorrow. It’s great to be back in Geneva and always great to play in front of the fans here again.”

With his win, Ruud improved to 9-0 in Geneva, and 17-0 in Swiss ATP Tour clay events. The Norwegian triumphed in Gstaad as well as Geneva in 2021 and 2022.

“The club is beautiful, the fans are great,” said Ruud, when asked about why he so often showcases his best tennis in Geneva. “Switzerland is a country with a lot of tennis history now, with Roger, and Stan still playing. So it’s an incredible country to be in, I really like it. Good food, good people, a lot of beautiful views so there’s a lot of things to like about Geneva and it’s always a great feeling being here.”

Ruud will take on Nicolas Jarry next as he bids for his second tour-level title of the season (Estoril). Jarry advanced to the quarter-finals after his opponent Tallon Griekspoor was forced to withdraw due to a right ankle injury.

Earlier on Wednesday, Taylor Fritz shook off a tricky start with a powerful finish en route to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win against Marcos Giron in his opening match at the clay-court ATP 250.

Fritz prevailed in a hard-fought contest by delivering a dominant serving performance in the deciding set against his No. 74-ranked countryman. The second seed dropped just two points behind his delivery in the third set to claim victory in a match during which he also converted five of the 13 break points he earned.

Debut & Comeback 🔥

From a set down No.2️⃣ seed @Taylor_Fritz97 continues into the last 8 defeating Giron 4-6 6-2 6-3!@genevaopen | #atpgva pic.twitter.com/CZMaFJaIxT

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 24, 2023

The 25-year-old Fritz is now 8-1 against fellow Americans for the 2023 season. The Delray Beach champion is chasing his maiden ATP Tour title on clay on event debut this week in Geneva, where he will meet Ilya Ivashka in the quarter.finals.

Ivashka earlier came through a three-set battle of his own. The 29-year-old downed eighth seed Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.

Grigor Dimitrov enjoyed a more straightforward path to the last eight. The fourth seed brushed past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-4 to reach his first tour-level quarter-final on clay this year. Dimitrov, who also reached the quarter-finals in Geneva in 2021, next plays Christopher O’Connell. The Australian led Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-0, 3-0 when the Spaniard retired from the pair’s second-round clash.

“Honestly, it was a good day,” said Dimitrov. “I think I had a very good start to the match, especially the first four games. I was really on point, reading the game well, serving well, which helped a lot. I think today was also very tough conditions, all in all. It was windy, kind of swirly, a little bit cold… I felt all I had to do was be very composed, look after the points and simply follow [my] game plan.”

Shang Juncheng made history earlier this season when he was one of three Chinese men who competed in the main draw of the Australian Open. Now the 18-year-old is attempting to qualify for the Roland Garros main draw in hopes of once again joining his countrymen Wu Yibing and Zhang Zhizhen.

World No. 200 Shang is one win away from the main draw in Paris after defeating Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of qualifying. The lefty saved all six break points he faced Wednesday to down the Hungarian, who upset Carlos Alcaraz last week in Rome at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Shang was not the only teenager who advanced Wednesday. The 19-year-old Serbian Hamad Medjedovic ousted fourth seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Medjedovic has claimed two ATP Challenger Tour titles this season and is ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race. Shang, who reached the second round at Melbourne Park after coming through qualifying, is thirty-fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race.

Second seed Yannick Hanfmann maintained his strong clay-court form, overcoming Zdenek Kolar 6-2, 6-4. The German, who is at a career-high No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, won 69 per cent of his second-serve points compared to Kolar’s 43 per cent. The 31-year-old will next meet Elias Ymer, who ousted Marc Polmans 7-5, 6-3.

Hanfmann is aiming to play in the Roland Garros main draw for the first time since 2019. That year, the German advanced through qualifying before losing to Rafael Nadal in the opening round.

In other qualifying action, home favourite and former World No. 10 Lucas Pouille rallied to beat Chun-Hsin Tseng 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 and Chilean Alejandro Tabilo survived third seed Borna Gojo 7-6(2), 7-6(4).

Top seed Aslan Karatsev, who reached the semi-finals at the Mutua Madrid Open, moved past Nick Hardt 7-5, 6-3.