When is the French Open draw and how can I watch?
The French Open starts on May 28th at Roland Garros with defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal having withdrawn due to injury.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are the leading contenders to win the men’s title with Iga Swiatek set to defend her crown in the women’s competition.
Andy Murray has also withdrawn from this year’s French Open after two early exit defeats on clay this season. The 36-year-old is still considering which tournaments to target with the priority being Wimbledon on July 3rd.
Emma Raducanu is also absent after undergoing surgery so Cameron Norrie is Britain’s best chance at success. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the French Open draw:
When is the French Open draw taking place?
The draw for the French Open will take place on Thursday, May 25th at 1pm UK time. The grand slam then gets started on Sunday, May 28th.
How can I watch it?
You can live stream the draw on the Roland-Garros official YouTube page.
How does the French Open draw work?
There are 128 players in the men’s and women’s singles draws. 32 seeded players are in the draw, which are determined by the ATP and WTA rankings the week before the tournament starts.
Those seeds will be drawn apart and cannot face each other for the first few rounds of the tournament. The top seed and the second seed can only meet in the final whilst the top four seeds can only meet in the semi-finals. If the seeds make it through each round then the top eight seeds would all reach the quarter-finals.
Who are the top seeds at the French Open?
Carlos Alcaraz is the top men’s seed despite an early exit at the Italian Open, as he overtook Novak Djokovic as world No. 1 after the tournament.
Daniil Medvedev moved up to world No. 2 following his victory in Italy and will be the second seed with Djokovic third ahead of last year’s French Open runner-up Casper Ruud.
The top two women’s seeds are Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
Swiatek is the defending champion and is aiming for a third French Open title, while world No. 2 Sabalenka will be looking to make it past the third round for the first time.
Jessica Pegula is the third seed ahead of Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
The men’s and women’s top 10 seeds
Men’s seeds:
1. Carlos Alcaraz
2. Daniil Medvedev
3. Novak Djokovic
4. Casper Ruud
5. Stefanos Tsitsipas
6. Holger Rune
7. Andrey Rublev
8. Jannik Sinner
9. Taylor Fritz
10. Felix Auger-Aliassime
Women’s seeds:
1. Iga Swiatek
2. Aryna Sabalenka
3. Jessica Pegula
4. Elena Rybakina
5. Caroline Garcia
6. Coco Gauff
7. Ons Jabeur
8. Maria Sakkari
9. Daria Kasatkina
10. Petra Kvitova
What is the French Open schedule?
First round: May 28-30
Second round: May 31-June 1
Third round: June 2-3
Fourth round: June 4-5
Quarter-finals: June 6-7
Women’s semi-finals: June 8
Men’s semi-finals: June 9
Women’s final: June 10
Men’s final: June 11
