PARIS, May 24: Top seed Novak Djokovic and seven-time champion Rafael Nadal were set on a French Open semi-final collision course on Friday, condemning one of the sport’s superstars to certain defeat before the final.

“But is not in the first round, no?,” Nadal joked when asked how he felt about his potential meeting with Djokovic in a news conference.

The world number one Serb and the third-ranked Spaniard were placed in the same half of the draw, leaving Roger Federer, the second seed, to remain untroubled by either of his two great rivals until the final.

Federer, the owner of a record 17 major titles including the 2009 French Open, will face a qualifier in the first round — and if he wins that, he’ll play a qualifier in the second round, too and has a smooth-looking path until a potential quarter-final against French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Nadal has won five titles on clay this season after missing out on more than seven months of tennis, sitting out of Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australia Open.

“If you can ask me if I win one Grand Slam during the whole year or win six tournaments like I already did, I will choose win six tournaments,” he said.

Nadal plays Daniel Brands of Germany in the first round and could face home hope Richard Gasquet in a potential quarter-final clash.

He could meet Lukas Rosol in the third round, 11 months after the unheralded Czech dumped the Spaniard out of Wimbledon in a second-round shock which also sent the Roland Garros champion into his seven-month rehabilitation.

Djokovic faces a far more intriguing start: The reigning Australian Open champion’s first-round opponent is David Goffin, a 22-year-old Belgian who took a set off Federer in the fourth round in Paris last year after making it that far as a lucky loser and is also lined up for a possible third-round match against talented Bulgarian youngster Grigor Dimitrov with compatriot Janko Tipsarevic a likely quarter-final opponent.

World number two Andy Murray, the reigning US Open champion, pulled out with back problems and Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, ranked seventh, is also missing from the draw due to illness.

On the women’s side, defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia, the second seed, is in the same half as Belarussian third seed Victoria Azarenka.

World number one Serena Williams could meet Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the fourth seed, in the semi-finals.Serena’s lone French Open title came in 2002 and her bid for a second championship will begin against 83rd-ranked Anna Tatishvili in the first round.

Asked if she felt as good as in her golden years, Williams told a news conference: “I think so. Just looking back at a few of my matches years ago and looking now, I definitely feel like I’m getting into that zone that I have always wanted to be in, and I feel a lot better about it.”

Sharapova’s main threat could come from Australian ninth seed Samantha Stosur, the 2010 runner-up, in a possible quarter-final and tackles Taiwan’s Heish Su-Wei in the first round.

“It’s very meaningful to come back as a defending champion. It means you have done something pretty good, and you’re coming back into that position and you’re trying to defend it,” said Sharapova, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning last year’s French Open. “I think it’s one of the best honours you can have as a tennis player.”

Azarenka starts against Russia’s Elena Vesnina while Radwanska, a quarter-finalist in 2009 and 2010, but carrying a shoulder injury could face sister Urszula in the last 32 if her sibling gets past Venus Williams in her opener.

China’s 2011 champion Li Na, seeded six, begins against Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and is seeded to face Azarenka in the quarter-finals.

One noteworthy first-round matchup is No 10 Caroline Wozniacki, who used to be No 1, against 35th-ranked Laura Robson, a British teenager who reached the fourth round at last year’s US Open.

The French Open begins on Sunday.—Agencies