Emma Raducanu steered clear of the favourites in the draw for the French Open where she faces world number 64 Solana Sierra in the first round.
The British number one was unseeded after slipping to 37 in the rankings and arrives at Roland Garros with a single clay-court match under her belt after losing in the first round at Strasbourg to Diane Parry.
Raducanu will be hoping for a return to form on the big stage and her prospects are boosted by a first-time meeting with the 21-year-old Argentinian, who fell at the first hurdle last year in her maiden appearance in the main draw.
All set in Paris 🇫🇷
— LTA (@the_LTA) May 21, 2026
A look at the @rolandgarros draw for the Brits pic.twitter.com/bICRHyNror
The pair had been due to meet in the Italian Open earlier this year, only for the 2021 US Open champion to withdrawn from the tournament citing illness.
A potential meeting with 13th seed Jasmine Paolini awaits in the second round, should the Italian see off Dayana Yastremska.
Her compatriots also escaped the big-name opponents, with Francesca Jones facing Beatriz Haddad Maia, while Katie Boulter takes on teenager Akasha Urhobo.
In the men’s draw, leading Briton and 20th seed Cameron Norrie plays Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo and the unseeded Jacob Fearnley has the chance of a huge second-round clash against world number one and heavy favourite Jannik Sinner.
To set that up, the 24-year-old must first get past Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Meanwhile, Winchester’s Toby Samuel came through qualifying to reach his first Grand Slam main draw. The 23-year-old had the biggest ranking leap of any male player last year and has jumped 1,708 places to 159 since the start of 2025.
Sinner is heavy favourite as he bids to complete his personal Grand Slam of major championships and he begins the journey against French wildcard Clement Tabur, with a 29-match winning streak to extend.
Novak Djokovic is in the other side of the draw – raising the prospect of a blockbuster final as he chases his 25th slam – and he starts against Giovanni Mpetshi.
Second seed Alexander Zverev is in the same half as Djokovic, kicking off by taking on France’s Benjamin Bonzi.
Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s top seed, takes on Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and defending champion Coco Gauff launches her defence against fellow American Taylor Townsend.
Iga Swiatek plays Australian wildcard Emerson Jones and second seed Elena Rybakina faces Veronika Erjavec.
