Play begins Sunday in Paris. Williams is defending women’s champion. The French Open was 2015’s only major Djokovic did not win. Stan Wawrinka is defending men’s champion.
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Williams will get another attempt to equal Steffi Graf’s open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles in Paris. She is expected to ease past Slovakian outsider Rybarikova in the opener. Williams beat Rybarikova in straight sets in their only previous meeting at the Canadian Masters three years ago.
Williams heads into the clay-court slam on the back of winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, her first tournament victory since last August.
She could face Ana Ivanovic in the round of 16, with Victoria Azarenka a potential quarterfinal opponent.
Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Bojana Jovanovski in the first round, while third seed and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber starts against Kiki Bertens.
First-round matchups for the other American women in the field are: No. 9 seed Venus Williams vs. Annett KontaveitNo. 15 seed Madison Keys vs. Donna VekicNo. 19 seed Sloane Stephens vs. Margarita GasparyanBethanie Mattek-Sands vs. No. 25 seed Irinia-Camelia BeguShelby Rogers vs. No. 17 seed Karolina PliskovaVarvara Lepchenko vs. No. 27 seed Ekaterina MakarovaSamantha Crawford vs. Timea BabosTaylor Townsend vs. Amandine HesseIrina Falconi vs. Mona BarthelCoco Vandeweghe vs. Naomi BroadyMadison Brengle vs. Elena VesninaNicole Gibbs vs. Heather WatsonChristina McHale vs. Myrtille GeorgesAlison Riske vs. a qualifierLauren Davis vs. a qualifier.
Men’s draw
Djokovic is out to complete the career Grand Slam and should be too good for the 100th-ranked Lu. Tomas Berdych is a possible opponent for the top seed and world No. 1 in the quarterfinals.
Andy Murray, seeded second, will open against a qualifier. Wawrinka starts his defense against Lukas Rosol. Fourth seed Rafael Nadal faces Sam Groth in the first round.
Wawrinka could come up against Canada’s Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals. Murray — fresh from beating Djokovic to win his first title in Rome — faces the prospect of meeting world No. 6 Kei Nishikori in the quarters.
The American men in the field start this way:No. 15 seed John Isner vs. John MillmanNo. 23 seed Jack Sock vs. Robin HaaseBrian Baker vs. No. 20 seed Bernard TomicSteve Johnson vs. No. 21 seed Feliciano LopezTaylor Fritz vs. Borna CoricRajeev Ram vs. Jiri VeselyDenis Kudla vs. Dusan LajovicSam Querrey vs. Bjorn FratangeloDonald Young vs. Teymuraz Gabashvili.
