Victoria Mboko is set for a challenging matchup in her second-ever French Open.
The Canadian standout, who is seeded ninth, will take on world No. 65 Nikola Bartunkova from Czechia in the opening round after Thursday’s draw unveiled the matchups for this prestigious tournament.
Bartunkova, 20, made waves by reaching the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year during her Grand Slam debut and recently progressed to the round of 16 on clay at the Italian Open as a lucky loser, stepping in for an injured Mboko.
At just 19, Mboko already impressed by making it to the third round in her first Grand Slam appearance at last year’s French Open.
Leylah Fernandez rounds out the Canadian representation, being seeded 24th. She is slated to face world No. 80 Alycia Parks in her opening match.
The two athletes have encountered each other twice before, splitting the series 1-1. Fernandez’s standout performance at the French Open came in 2022 when she reached the quarterfinals.
On the men’s side, Felix Auger-Aliassime takes center stage as the No. 4 seed.
The athlete from Montreal will clash with seasoned German player Daniel Altmaier, currently ranked No. 65 in the world. Their head-to-head record stands evenly at 2-2.
The remaining two Canadian men in the draw are unseeded.
Gabriel Diallo from Montreal, ranked 46th, is set to challenge world No. 83 James Duckworth from Australia.
Meanwhile, Denis Shapovalov, sitting at 37th in the rankings, will face either a qualifier or a lucky loser in his opening match.
The main draw kicks off this Sunday.
