Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz won't be facing each other in a potential French Open final this year.
The draw for the 2023 French Open took place Thursday and unfortunately, Djokovic and Alcaraz are in the same half with the pair projected to face each other in the semifinal.
Alcaraz — the top seed — will face a qualifier or a lucky loser in his first match. Canadian Denis Shapovalov will likely be the first big name he faces as a potential third round opponent.
Things get a bit trickier for the Spaniard after that. He could face 14th seed Cam Norrie in the fourth round before a quarterfinal matchup with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
If Alcaraz gets through that, he will then have the possibility of facing Djokovic in the last four.
As for the Serbian superstar, he will kick his Paris campaign off against Aleksander Kovacevic. A fourth-round meeting with 13th seed Hubert Huikacz is on the cards before a potential quarterfinal clash with Monte Carlo winner Andrey Rublev.
New World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, meanwhile, had better luck.
Like Alcaraz, the Italian Open champion also faces a qualifier or lucky loser in his first match. He could then face 15th seed Borna Coric in the fourth round before a potential meeting with Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinal.
The winner of a potential Holger Rune vs. Casper Ruud quarterfinal matchup would only prevent the Russian from making the final.
Article Continues BelowHere is the full men's draw:
Full men's Roland Garros 2023 draw: pic.twitter.com/QlnMguUhDU
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) May 25, 2023
Here are the projected men's quarterfinal matchups:
- Alcaraz vs Tsitsipas
- Rublev vs Djokovic
- Rune vs Ruud
- Sinner vs Medvedev
While it's not the worst news for tennis fans as the chances of finally seeing just a second meeting between Djokovic and Alcaraz are much likelier, it certainly won't have the same grandeur as a showdown in the final at Roland Garros.
That said, either one of them against Medvedev in the final would still make for a great matchup.