Andy Murray To Face Qualifier In French Open

British No 1 Andy Murray will face a qualifier in the first round of the French Open.

The 29-year-old is the second seed at Roland Garros for the first time and he has avoided Rafael Nadal who is in the same half of the draw as top seed Novak Djokovic.

Should the draw follow the seedings, Murray would meet fifth seed Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals and defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals.

Djokovic, who would become the first man since 1969 to hold all four Slam titles at the same time should he win a first French Open crown, will play Lu Yen-hsun in round one.

Nine-time champion Nadal was drawn in a tough quarter and will meet Australian Sam Groth - the world's fastest server - first up.

The other two British players in the men's draw, Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund, both joined Murray in drawing qualifiers.

Britain's No 1 women's player Johanna Konta faces a tough first round battle with in-form German Julia Goerges.

Heather Watson faces American Nicole Gibbs, Naomi Broady takes on another American in Coco Vandeweghe and Laura Robson will play Germany's Andrea Petkovic.

Women's top seed and defending champion Serena Williams will start against Magdalena Rybarikova and looks to have the tougher half of the draw.

Victoria Azarenka is a potential quarter-final opponent while third seed Angelique Kerber, who beat Williams to win the Australian Open, could play the American in the last four.

Roger Federer, meanwhile, has pulled out of the tournament with a back injury.

Federer, 34, confirmed the news that he would miss his first major since the 1999 US Open on his Facebook page.