French Open 2023: When is the draw? Who will be the top seeds? Will Novak Djokovic be drawn with Carlos Alcaraz?

The French Open is drawing ever closer.

The second Grand Slam of the season starts on May 28 with Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz set to be the leading contenders for the men’s title, and Iga Swiatek heading the field in the women’s draw.

When is the draw for the tournament and who will be the top seeds? We run through everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 French Open…

When is the draw for the 2023 French Open?

The draw for the French Open will take place on Thursday, May 25 at 1pm UK time.

The Grand Slam gets started on Sunday, May 28.

How does the French Open draw work?

There are 128 players in the men’s and women’s singles draws.

There are 32 seeded players in each 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, and the top four seeds can only meet in the semi-finals. If the seeds hold, then the top eight seeds would all reach the quarter-finals.

Who will be the top seeds at the French Open?

That means Djokovic and Alcaraz could be drawn on the same half of the draw, in which case they would be set to meet in the semi-finals.

Last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud is the fourth seed ahead of former runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and new world No. 6 Holger Rune.

The top two women’s seeds are Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.

Swiatek is the defending champion and will be 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 after a fantastic start to the season.

French Open seeds – top 16

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
• 11 – Karen Khachanov
• 12 – Frances Tiafoe
• 13 – Hubert Hurkacz
• 14 – Cameron Norrie
• 15 – Borna Coric
• 16 – Tommy Paul

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
• 11 – Veronika Kudermetova
• 12 – Belinda Bencic
• 13 – Barbora Krejcikova
• 14 – Beatriz Haddad Maia
• 15 – Liudmila Samsonova
• 16 – Karolina Pliskova

What’s the French Open schedule?

All times are UK time

• Men’s and women’s first round – May 28, 29, 30 (play starts 10am, night session scheduled to start at 7.30pm on May 29 and 30)
• Men’s and women’s second round – May 31, June 1 (play starts 10am, night session scheduled to start at 7.30pm)
• Men’s and women’s third round – June 2, 3 (play starts 10am, night session scheduled to start at 7.30pm)
• Men’s and women’s fourth round – June 4, 5 (play starts 10am, night session scheduled to start at 7.30pm)
• Men’s and women’s quarter-finals – June 6, 7 (play starts 10am, night session scheduled to start at 7.30pm)
• Women’s semi-finals – June 8 (play starts 2pm)
• Men’s semi-finals – June 9 (play starts 1.45pm)
• Women’s final – June 10 (2pm)
• Men’s final – June 11 (2pm)

Will Rafael Nadal be fit for the French Open?

Nadal originally said he would miss up to eight weeks after suffering a grade two iliopsoas tear at the Australian Open in January.

As the defending champion at the French Open, Nadal has 2,000 ranking points to defend, so he will drop out of the top 100 in the world rankings following the tournament.

Nadal’s exit leaves Djokovic and Alcaraz as the leading contenders for the Grand Slam.

– – –