Kenin Dealt Tough Draw; U.S. Men Round out Seeds in Paris

If Sofia Kenin wants to repeat her run to the French Open final, she'll have to go through quite a tough draw. 

Kenin, seeded No. 4, is the highest-ranked and seeded of 26 American men and women who earned direct entry into the main draws in Paris, which were released in full on Thursday. Seven American women are seeded in all, with Serena Williams, Jennifer Brady, Madison Keys, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula rounding them out, while Taylor Fritz, John Isner and Reilly Opelka are seeded No. 29-32 in the men's field, respectively. 

In addition to the players who received direct entry, five Americans earned their way in via qualifying, bringing the total number to 31. 

Here are some of the biggest takeways from draw day in Paris.

Kenin draws former champion Jelena Ostapenko first up

One of the most hotly-anticipated first-round matches comes for the defending finalist, who drew 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko. Following a second-round exit at the Australian Open and an appendectomy, Kenin is 0-3 on clay this spring and recently announced that she and her father, Alexander, have agreed to end their longtime coaching relationship.

Coco Gauff earns first Grand Slam seeding

After sweeping the singles and doubles titles at the WTA 250 event in Parma, Italy, Coco Gauff enters the French Open as a seed for the first time. At a career-high ranking of No. 25, Gauff is seeded No. 24 in Paris, and could be on course to meet world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round. The two played in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event in Rome, where Barty led by a set but was then forced to retire due to an arm injury. Also seeded in this section of the draw is No. 13 Jennifer Brady, who could face Gauff in the third round. 

Bernarda Pera, Tennys Sandgren draw top seeds

World No. 1s Ashleigh Barty and Novak Djokovic sit on "line 1" atop the women's and men's singles draws - and a pair of Americans landed on "line 2." Left-hander Bernarda Pera, ranked world No. 70, will face 2019 French Open champion Barty in their first-ever meeting, while world No. 66 Tennys Sandgren will face Djokovic for a fourth time. Sandgren has only won one set in their three career meetings, in a second-round match at the 2018 US Open.

Serena's quest for 24 continues

After two early exits in her clay-court warm-up events, Serena Williams is back in Paris to again pursue a 24th Grand Slam singles title. Having not played since the Australian Open, WIlliams played two events on the red clay in Italy: first losing in the second round in Rome to 2020 WTA Newcomer of the Year and French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska, and then to Czech Katerina Siniakova in Parma.

Williams is seeded No. 7 and fell in the bottom half of the draw, alongside No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka, No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka, No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu and No. 11 seed Petra Kvitova. She'll face Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in her first match, and could face fellow American Danielle Collins - who reached the quarterfinals in Paris last fall - in the third round.

Three all-American openers becomes two

The men's draw will feature two all-Americans in the opening round as No. 31 seed John Isner faces Sam Querrey, while Steve Johnson takes on Frances Tiafoe. Querrey leads their overall head-to-head, 5-3, but the two have not played since 2019. Their lone meeting on clay came 11 years ago in Belgrade, Serbia, which Querrey also won. Johnson won the lone match he played against Tiafoe, also on red clay, in Houston in 2018.

Alison Riske, the No. 27 seed when the draw was released, was expected to open against Lauren Davis in the women's field. However, Riske withdrew from the tournament on Friday: instead, Davis will now play against the in-form Paula Badosa of Spain, who was bumped up to the No. 33 seed. 

Click here for the full men's singles and women's singles draws in Paris.