Much of the intrigue coming into Thursday’s French Open draw related to Novak Djokovic and where he would be placed.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 3 landed in the same half of the draw as world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who just took over the top spot from the Serb, meaning they could meet in the semifinals. Alcaraz won the only meeting between the two players, in the 2022 Italian Open semifinals.

“The two solid favorites in same half of draw, it.certainly opens things up on the other half,” said ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe.”I still lean Novak in best of until proven otherwise “

Alcaraz, seeded No. 1 at a major for the first time, is a slight betting favorite over Djokovic, the two-time French Open champion bidding to surpass Rafael Nadal with a 23rd Grand Slam singles title.

Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, pulled out of the event due to injury and will not play in Paris for the first time since his debut in 2005.

Djokovic has a bit of a tricky draw filled with some elite clay court players. He opens with American Aleksandar Kovacevic, a New York City native who played college tennis at Illinois.

He could face world No. 13 Hubert Hurkacz or Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round and then Russians Andrey Rublev or Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals.

In the semis, he could be in for a titanic battle with Alcaraz, the U.S. Open champion or, world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

His opponent in a potential final could be world No. 2 Daniil Medevev, winner of the Italian Open, Italian Open runner-up Holger Rune or Italian Jannik Sinner.

The potential men’s quarterfinals break down like this:

On the women’s side, two-time French Open champion and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek is the betting favorite.

She will face Cristina Bucsa of Spain in the first round of the French Open and could face Claire Liu of the U.S. in the second round, with a potential quarterfinal showdown with No. 6 Coco Gauff. Swiatek routed Gauff, 6-1, 6-3, in last year’s final en route to her 35th straight victory.

“It’s like my favorite tournament in the whole year, so I’m always excited to come back,” said Swiatek, per the Associated Press. “Before the tournament, I get this extra motivation to practice harder, to make everything better.”

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who won her first major at the Australian Open, is on the bottom half of the women’s draw, along with Jessica Pegula, the top-ranked American.

The potential women’s quarterfinal matchups look like this:

Some intriguing first-rounders include Sabalenka against Marta Kostyuk, American Jessica Pegula against 2022 Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins, and Victoria Azarenka against Bianca Andreescu in a showdown between past Grand Slam champions.

(The AP contributed reporting)