French Open 2017: Draw Results, Seedings for Men and Women's Brackets
World No. 1 and top seed Andy Murray will take on Andrey Kuznetsov in Round 1 of the 2017 French Open, it was confirmed in Friday's draw.
Elsewhere at Roland Garros, second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic will face Marcel Granollers in his first match of the tournament. Rafael Nadal, looking for a 10th win at the French Open, will go head-to-head with Benoit Paire in his opener.
In the women's draw, 2016 winner Garbine Muguruza will have to overcome Francesca Schiavone in Round 1, while world No. 1 Angelique Kerber will have Ekaterina Makarova to face.
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Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times provided both draws and the seedings in full:
Men's Draw Preview
After finishing 2016 on such a high and usurping Djokovic at the top of the rankings, Murray has found it difficult to get going this season.
At the Australian Open, he suffered a shock loss to Mischa Zverev in the last 16, and since then the 30-year-old has found no rhythm on clay. He's failed to make it to the final at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open, the Madrid Open and, most recently, at the Italian Open where he was beaten in his first match by Fabio Fognini.
As noted by Stuart Fraser of The Times, it's been a long time since the top player in the world had such a rocky start to the season:
It makes the men's draw an exciting one, although there is no outstanding candidate for the crown.
Indeed, Djokovic has shown some vulnerability on clay too, recently losing to Alexander Zverev in the final of the Italian Open. The Serb has traditionally found this surface the most testing to cope with too.
So perhaps it's little surprise that many expect Nadal, known as the King of Clay, to come good again at Roland Garros. Per SuperSport, the Spaniard is pretty imperious at this venue:
Nadal did suffer a surprise defeat to Dominic Thiem in Rome recently, although that was the only blip on an excellent clay-court season so far.
Given his recent revitalisation, his consistency on the surface and the longer match format, the nine-time winner must be the favourite to go all the way at the moment.
Women's Draw Preview
Given Serena Williams will not compete in this year's French Open, there's a wide-open feel to the women's draw. But, as is the case in the men's bracket, the top-ranked player is struggling for top form.
At this point, you would have to say Kerber is a big outsider to win at Roland Garros having failed to fire in preparation for the tournament.
Per Christopher Clarey of the New York Times, her recent record leaves much to be desired:
The most in-form player heading into the competition is Simona Halep. Although the Romanian fell short in the final of the Italian Open against Elina Svitolina, she has showcased excellent consistency on clay, winning the Madrid Open earlier this month.
There will be a determination bristling in the 25-year-old too, as she's yet to win a major title; the closest she came was in 2014, when Halep made it to the final of the French Open.
As she proved last year, Muguruza is another player who is capable of going all the way, provided she's fully fit. There are doubts over her condition after she retired from the Italian Open semi-final against Svitolina, per the WTA Insider Twitter feed:
Although she has never made it beyond the quarter-final of a Grand Slam tournament previously, Svitolina will be one to watch here too.
The 22-year-old is ranked at a career-high No. 6 in the world and will carry plenty of confidence into the French Open having overcome Halep in the Rome finale. If she can stay composed when the pressure bites, the Ukrainian has an excellent chance.
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