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'This is wrong': Naomi Osaka at centre of 'brutal' French Open drama

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor
·4-min read
Naomi Osaka, pictured here practicing at Roland Garros ahead of the French Open.
Naomi Osaka practices at Roland Garros ahead of the French Open. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) (Corbis via Getty Images)

Naomi Osaka has been dealt a brutal hand in her return to the French Open after being drawn to play 27th seed Amanda Anisimova in the first round.

Osaka withdrew from the clay-court grand slam after the first round last year when she was fined for skipping press conferences in an attempt to protect her mental health.

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After a brief break from the sport, the World No.1 returned to the WTA tour earlier this year and will play at Roland Garros this weekend.

However her break from the game and some indifferent form has seen her ranking slide down to World No.38, meaning she isn't in the top 32 seeds at the French Open.

That means she left herself open to drawing a tricky first-round opponent, and Anisimova is exactly that.

Anisimova beat Osaka in the third round at the Australian Open in January in their last head-to-head meeting.

The 20-year-old American stunned the defending champion in Melbourne, coming back to win 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek could face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the last 16.

Ostapenko was the last player to beat the Polish World No.1 before she started her 28-match unbeaten streak, winning five titles in a row.

The 20-year-old Swiatek is looking to win her second French Open crown in three years after her maiden grand slam triumph at Roland Garros in 2020.

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova is on a last-16 collision course with former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka in the bottom half of the draw.

Amanda Anismova, pictured here after beating Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open in January.
Amanda Anismova beat Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open in January. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images) (TPN via Getty Images)

Men's stars in same half of French Open draw

On the men's side, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz all landed in the same half of the draw alongside World No.3 Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic and Nadal are on a quarter-final collision course, with the winner possibly meeting Alcaraz or Zverev in the semis.

Alcaraz, 19, recently won the Madrid Open on clay and became the youngest man to break into the top 10 in the rankings since Nadal in 2005.

Nadal, who has concerns over a recurrence of a chronic foot problem, will meet Australia's Jordan Thompson in the first round, while Djokovic will meet Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka.

In the bottom half of the draw, last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas faces a tricky first-round match against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who last year took Djokovic to five sets in the fourth round.

World No.2 Daniil Medvedev could take on compatriot Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals as Russian players have been allowed to compete despite their country's invasion of Ukraine.

The French Open will operate at full capacity for the first time in three years after the last two tournaments were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It's amazing to see all the fans who have already come here for the qualifications," said Djokovic, who attended the draw ceremony at Roland Garros.

"I am very motivated to play my best tennis. Last year in Paris was the perfect result.

"Roland Garros was maybe the hardest of my career, of all the grand slams I have won. Very emotional, tiring, but at the end, I got the result."

with agencies

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