Tennis: Nishikori to face Alcaraz in French Open 1st round
KYODO NEWS - 4 minutes ago - 13:01 | Sports, All
Injury-ravaged Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori will play defending champion and second-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the first round of the French Open, the men's singles draw showed Thursday.
The French Open, the second Grand Slam on the tennis calendar, begins Sunday. Top-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy will be vying for his third consecutive Grand Slam title.
On Wednesday, former world No. 4 Nishikori withdrew from his rain-interrupted second-round match against Russian Karen Khachanov at the clay-court Geneva Open with a sore back.
Among other Japanese players, former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka will take on 10th-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain in the women's first round at Roland Garros.
Three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland is seeded fifth.
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