PARIS — Two most-talked-about men at this year's French Open, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, finally play their first matches on Tuesday.
Nadal, the champion nine of the past 10 years, takes on Quentin Halys, an 18-year-old wild-card entry from France who is ranked 296th and has never played a match at a major tournament.
Next on Court Philippe Chatrier will be the No. 1-seeded Djokovic, whose bid to complete a career Grand Slam starts off against Jarkko Nieminen, a 33-year-old from Finland ranked 87th. Djokovic has never lost a Slam match to a player that far down in the rankings.