Defending French Open champions Rafael Nadal and Francesca Schiavone were given first-round matches in yesterday’s draw against Americans who have won a combined two matches at Roland Garros.

The top-ranked Nadal’s bid to equal Bjorn Borg’s record of six titles at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament will begin against John Isner, who is best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set at Wimbledon last year.

Play begins tomorrow at the French Open, where Nadal is 38-1 and Isner is 2-2.

Schiavone, the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam tournament, is seeded fifth this year and will start off against Melanie Oudin. She lost her only match at Roland Garros last year in the first round.

Second-ranked Novak Djokovic, who has won all 37 matches he’s played this season, will face Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands in the first round.

Djokovic could face tests from 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or big-serving Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the third round, and then No. 13 Richard Gasquet of France or No. 23 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the fourth.

Australian Open champion Djokovic and 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer were drawn to meet in the French Open semi-finals. Nadal could meet No. 4 Andy Murray in the semi-finals, while the Spaniard’s quarter-final opponent could be No. 5 Robin Soderling, the only man to beat him at Roland Garros.

Federer’s first opponent is Feliciano Lopez of Spain.