USA’s Coco Gauff (in pic) took down World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final to clinch her maiden French Open title in Paris last year. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Coco Gauff will begin her title defence at this year’s French Open by taking on fellow American Taylor Townsend, as per the draw ceremony held in Paris on Thursday.

Aryna Sabalenka, World No. 1 and last year’s runner-up, will open her campaign with a first-round clash against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro while Kazakh World No. 2 Elena Rybakina, who won this year’s Australian Open, will face Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec.

Four-time winner Iga Swiatek, seeded third, will meet Australian youngster Emerson Jones in the opening round.

In the upper half of the draw, Sabalenka is projected to meet Gauff in the semifinals - a rematch of last year’s summit clash. In the lower half, Swiatek and Rybakina are on a collision course for a final-four match.

More to follow....

First-round matches to watch out for:-

Daria Kasatkina (AUS) vs Zeynep Sonmez (TUR)

Emma Navarro (USA) vs Janice Tjen (INA)

Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Solana Sierra (ARG)

Published on May 21, 2026