Alex de Minaur will have to negotiate a minefield of a first week at the French Open if he is even to battle his way to a potential quarter-final date with his nemesis, Jannik Sinner.

And on a day when the Roland Garros draw threw up few favours for the 15-strong Australian contingent, two of the top women, Maya Joint and Ajla Tomljanovic, will have to face each other in a first-round 'battle of the generations' when the tournament starts this weekend.

Remarkably, the 19-year-old Joint, in her debut Paris main draw, and 32-year-old Tomljanovic, in her 10th French Open, will first have a dress rehearsal on Friday in the Morocco Open semi-final in Rabat.

No.9 seed de Minaur, a quarter-finalist last year, has his work cut out to do better as he faces the prospect of a third-round meeting with rising teenage Czech comet Jakub Mensik with the probability of the winner facing British hot shot Jack Draper in the last-16.

De Minaur should be able to ease past Serbian Laslo Djere in his opener, a player he's beaten three times and never lost to, before the possibility of an all-Australian match-up in the last 64 against James Duckworth, should his fellow Sydneysider get past the unpredictable Alexander Bublik first-up.

The 'Demon' would then likely face Sinner, the returning world No.1, who de Minaur has only taken one set off in 10 one-sided defeats, with potentially Novak Djokovic and reigning champ Carlos Alcaraz awaiting beyond that point.

Carlos Alcaraz will be supporting @PSG_inside in the @ChampionsLeague final 🔴🔵#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/5n7YeGQfGY— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2025

Alcaraz, who attended the draw and met PSG soccer star Ousmane Dembele there, will take on former world No.4 Kei Nishikori in the first round and could meet two-time finalist Casper Ruud in the quarters.

Sinner, just back after a three-month doping ban, will start by having to silence the famously vocal locals who'll be cheering on Arthur Rinderknech.

Alexei Popyrin, Austrralia's 25th seed, will fancy his chances against Japanese world No.75 Yoshihito Nishioka first up but there are forbidding first hurdles for Chris O'Connell, facing French 22nd seed Ugo Humbert, and Aleksandar Vukic, who's drawn No.24 seed Karen Khachanov.

The only consolation of the Joint-Tomljanovic clash is the guarantee of one Aussie woman at least featuring in the second round.

Olivia Gadecki has the toughest draw of all, up against No.2 seed Coco Gauff in the first round, while Daria Kastkina, in her first grand slam representing Australia, has a demanding opener against Katerina Siniakova, the Czech doubles world No.1 who's still a dangerous singles opponent for anyone.

Iga Swiatek, after a fourth consecutive title and fifth overall, starts against Rebecca Sramkova, with the prospect of facing Britain's former US Open champ Emma Raducanu in the second round.

She's in the same quarter of the draw as last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini, fresh off her Italian Open title, and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who opens against Kamilla Rakhimova.

WHO THE AUSTRALIANS WILL FACE IN THE FRENCH OPEN (Prefix denotes seeding)

WOMEN

(17) Daria Kasatkina v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

Kim Birrell v Jaqueline Cristian (ROM)

Ajla Tomljanovic v Maya Joint

Olivia Gadecki v (2) Coco Gauff (USA)

Destanee Aiava v Dayana Yastremska (UKR)

MEN

(9) Alex de Minaur v Laslo Djere (SRB)

(25) Alexei Popyrin v Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN)

Jordan Thompson v Jiri Lehecka (CZE)

Aleksandar Vukic v (24) Karen Khachanov (RUS)

Rinky Hijikata v Reilly Opelka (USA)

Adam Walton v Qualifier

Christopher O'Connell v (22) Ugo Humbert (FRA)

James Duckworth v Alexander Bublik (KAZ)

Tristan Schoolkate v Marton Fucsovics (HUN)