Paris: A day after former champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams eased into the second round with the minimum of fuss, it will be the turn of title holders Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova to grace the French Open with their presence on Monday.
Spanish third seed Nadal, who looks to win the claycourt grand slam for a record-extending eighth time, is second in action on Court Philippe Chatrier against German Daniel Brands while Russian second seed Sharapova closes proceedings against Taipei's Hsieh Su-wei.
Nadal and Sharapova, however, will not be the top draw in Paris on Monday when rays of sunshine might be in short supply.
Five Frenchmen are likely to draw in the crowds on the showcourts as they bid to follow in the footsteps of Yannick Noah's 1983 French Open triumph.
Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and seventh seed Richard Gasquet will play on Court Suzanne Lenglen against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine respectively.
The unseeded Gael Monfils, who reached the French Open semi-finals in 2008, will be on Court Philippe Chatrier against Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych.
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