Australia’s Olympic tennis hopes have been handed minefield draws at Roland Garros with Matt Ebden given the ultimate task of facing top seed Novak Djokovic.
Alex de Minaur, battling back from the injury that derailed his Wimbledon dream, has a second Roland Garros date in two months with German powerhouse Jan-Lennard Struff, who he beat in the French Open but only after a tough battle.
Doubles specialist Ebden, who rarely plays singles these days, was drafted in late as a replacement for Danish star Holger Rune, who withdrew injured.
But his reward is likely to be a swift exit at the hands of Wimbledon finalist Djokovic, who has made it clear an Olympics gold is his last big tennis ambition.
If Djokovic wins as expected, he could set up a second-round blockbuster with Rafael Nadal, who first has a difficult encounter in his opening match with dangerous Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
In the women’s singles, the lone Australian representative Ajla Tomljanovic could hardly have had a more difficult draw, paired in the first round with the No.2 seed Coco Gauff, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open before losing to the eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Gauff will carry the US flag with LeBron James in Friday's opening ceremony.
In the men's draw, Australian Rinky Hijikata has been pitted against Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev while his fellow Sydneysider Alexei Popyrin has drawn Chile's Italian Open finalist, 16th seed Nicolas Jarry, in another demanding opener.
De Minaur, the fifth seed, has made an unexpectedly speedy recovery from the hip injury that forced him to withdraw before his Wimbledon quarter-final with Djokovic.
But he won't relish another duel with the big-serving Struff, who he subdued in four sets in May.
The Australian No.1 is scheduled to meet French Open and Wimbledon champ Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, should he make the quarter finals as he did in the French Open. The Spanish superstar faces Lebanese Hady Habib in his opener.
Despite his singles draw, former world No.1 doubles player Ebden has medal hopes in both doubles event.
Teaming up with another veteran John Peers in the men's event, they will take on Lebanese pair Habib and Benjamin Hassan in the first round, while Ebden and Ellen Perez, the No.2 seeds, will start off against Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marcel Granollers in the mixed doubles.
De Minaur and Popyrin will meet American fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the men's event, while Tomljanovic and Olivia Gadecki will tackle Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider
To complete the Aussies' grim draw, Perez and Daria Saville have landed US top seeds Gauff and Jessica Pegula first up.
