Everything you need to know about the second Grand Slam of the year
With defending champion Rafael Nadal’s absence, top seed Alcaraz and 22-time major champion Djokovic will have top billing in the men’s tournament, which begins on Sunday.Since Alcaraz, 20, became world No 1 and lifted his maiden grand slam trophy in New York last September, he and Djokovic have been like ships in the night, rarely playing at the same tournaments. Their only previous meeting was on the clay courts of Madrid last spring, where Alcaraz emerged the victor after an engrossing three sets of tennis.France’s scrum-half Antoine Dupont drew the names from the Suzanne Lenglen Cup during Thursday’s draw, and delivered the potential for the tastiest semi-final possible – and their first best-of-five sets match-up.Djokovic begins his tournament against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who is ranked 114th, while Alcaraz faces a qualifier.The Spaniard will then likely need to get past British No 1 Cameron Norrie and former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals in order to play Djokovic.
