The 2023 French Open draw was announced on Thursday, and somewhat surprisingly, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were in the same half of the bracket. This sets them up for an epic meeting in the semi-finals, which will be the second time they face each other.
Alcazar’s position in the bracket was already decided—as the No. 1 seed, He was automatically placed at the top. The bracket makers had two options for the placement of No. 3 seed Djokovic: with Alcaraz in the top half, or with No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in the bottom half. He decided to put Djokovic on top, which denies him and Alcaraz the chance to meet in the final. But the arrangement allows for stronger competition because Djokovic and Alcaraz, who may be good at suffocating, are restricted to one half. That means with no Djokovic and Alcaraz, he has a chance to break out of the bottom half of the draw.
For only the second time Alcaraz and Djokovic played in the 2022 Madrid Open semifinals. (Alcaraz had already defeated Rafael Nadal earlier in the tournament.) Alcaraz won, making him one of the only men to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic in the same clay court tournament.
Here is the full draw of the men.
Inga Swiatek has a challenging road to the final
It is normal for the No. 1 seed to have a tough road to the finals. But Inga Swiatek’s path is a hilariously difficult one.
To win, Swiatek will need to cross the racket with 2021 French Open champion, Barbora Krejcikova in Round 4. Then there is Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals, who lost to Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final a year ago. Then in the semifinals, she is up against 2022 Wimbledon champion and 2023 Australian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina. And finally it is 2023 Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who last defeated Swiatek in the final of the Italian Open.
Swiatek isn’t on the same kind of ridiculous “I’ll destroy you” winning streak she had coming into the 2022 French Open, but she doesn’t need it to win. However, with a road like that ahead of him, no one could blame him for wanting it a little bit.
Here’s the full draw of the ladies.
