Editing Nadal Aims For 13th French Title; Serena Seeking 24th Grand Slam Crown

<br>Second-seeded Rafael Nadal will begin pursuit of his 13th French Open title when he faces Egor  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-nam-ninh-truong-gia-gioi-phuong-hoang-co-tran-6-ngay.html kynghidongduong.vn] Gerasimov of Belarus in the first round of the clay-court event.<br> <br>Play begins Sunday and the men's draw was revealed Thursday with Nadal seeded behind Novak Djokovic.<br>Nadal holds the record for most French Open titles and has 19 Grand Slam titles, one behind injured Roger Federer's 20.<br> <br>Djokovic, from Serbia, opens against Sweden's Mikael Ymer in their first career meeting. Djokovic has won the French Open just once, in 2016 when he defeated Brit Andy Murray.<br> <br>U.S.<br><br>Open champion Dominic Thiem will start against Croatia's Marin Cilic. Thiem, the No. 3 seed from Austria, has lost the past two French Open finals to Nadal.<br> <br>Germany's Alexander Zverev, who lost the five-set U.S. Open final to Thiem, opens with Austria's Dennis Novak.<br>Zverev is seeded sixth.<br> <br>An [https://www.behance.net/search?content=projects&sort=appreciations&time=week&search=intriguing%20first-round intriguing first-round] matchup is the clash between Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka and  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-nam-ninh-truong-gia-gioi-phuong-hoang-co-tran-6-ngay.html tour trương gia giới] Murray. Wawrinka, seeded 16th, defeated Djokovic to win the 2015 French Open, and defeated Murray in the 2017 semis before falling to Nadal in the title match.<br> <br>Murray continues to make strides after enduring major hip surgery and [http://www.recruitingblogs.com/main/search/search?q=fearing fearing] his career was over.<br> <br>In the women's draw, Serena Williams opens with fellow American Kristie Ahn as she again tries to match Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles.<br> <br>Williams, who is seeded sixth,  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-trung-quoc-nam-ninh-truong-gia-gioi-phuong-hoang-co-tran-6-ngay.html tour phượng hoàng cổ trấn] has won the French Open three times, most recently in 2015.<br> <br>Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is in the same bracket as Williams.<br><br>Azarenka recently defeated Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals.<br> <br>Azarenka, seeded 10th, opens with a match against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro.<br> <br>Top-seeded Simona Halep faces Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo in her first match.<br> <br>Fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin of the United States opens with Russia's Liudmila Samsonova.<br> <br>U.S.<br>Open champion Naomi Osaka of Japan is among four women ranked in the Top 10 that have pulled out. Osaka is ranked No. 3. The others are World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia, No. 7 Bianca Andreescu of Canada and No. 10 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.<br> <br>The draw was carried out electronically due to coronavirus protocols.<br> <br>The French Open was initially scheduled to be held from May 24-June 7 before being pushed back due to the pandemic.<br><br>The tournament is slated to end on Oct. 11.<br> <br>--Field Level Media<br>