Laura Robson draws former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in first round of French Open

The British number one faces tough start at Roland Garros

Eleanor Crooks
Friday 24 May 2013 20:23 BST
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Laura Robson
Laura Robson

British number one Laura Robson will meet former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the first round of the French Open.

It was the standout draw of the women's singles, made this morning by men's champion Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

Robson has never won a main draw match in Paris but has developed a welcome habit of pulling off big wins at grand slams, while 10th seed Wozniacki is in the midst of a terrible run that has seen her lose four straight matches on clay.

In the absence of Andy Murray, who pulled out of the tournament earlier this week with a back injury, world number 35 Robson is Britain's big hope for success.

The 19-year-old, who narrowly missed being seeded at a slam for the first time, has already beaten Kim Clijsters, Li Na and Petra Kvitova in grand slams, while her clay conquests this season have included world number four Agnieszka Radwanska and Venus Williams.

Robson will certainly relish the challenge but she will not be able to have Adidas coach Sven Groeneveld in her corner because Wozniacki also works with the Swede.

British number two Heather Watson is playing her first tournament after two months out with glandular fever and will meet Swiss Stefanie Voegele in round one.

Elena Baltacha makes it three British women in the main draw and the 29-year-old also has a decent chance of reaching round two after drawing New Zealand's Marina Erakovic.

Baltacha has dropped to 234th in the world after eight months out recovering from an ankle operation but has used her protected ranking to secure direct entry into the tournament.

World number one and title favourite Serena Williams will meet Georgia's Anna Tatishvili while reigning champion and second seed Maria Sharapova takes on Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei.

The Russian is in the same half as Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who drew Russia's Elena Vesnina in the first round.

In the men's draw, there will be no repeat of last year's final between Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic after they were placed in the same half.

Djokovic will meet Belgium's David Goffin, one of the stars of 12 months ago when he reached the fourth round as a lucky loser, while Nadal takes on German Daniel Brands.

Second seed Roger Federer appeared to be the main beneficiary of today's draw, with qualifiers in the first two rounds, while fourth seed David Ferrer, a potential semi-final opponent for Federer, plays Australian Marinko Matosevic.

Sixth seed Tomas Berdych will fancy his chances of reaching the latter stages but the Czech had reason to curse today's draw, with a first-round meeting against former top-10 Frenchman Gael Monfils likely to be followed by a clash with super-talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

PA

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