As Roland Garros welcomes a new but hauntingly vacant age of nighttime tennis, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic would lay their eyes on more Grand Slam history at the French Open.

The 14th triumph in Paris would give Nadal a record-breaking 21st major championship, overtaking Roger Federer, who's already shrugged off his chances of contributing to his lone triumph in the French city back in 2009. With a win, Djokovic, the 2016 winner, will have 19 Grand Slam championships.

That would become the world's number one the first man in more than a half-century to win all four majors several times.

Following the draw placed top seed Djokovic, third seed Nadal, and eighth-seeded Federer in the same half of the draw, maybe one of the sport's "Big Three" will make the June 13 final.

As a result, Djokovic will encounter Federer in the quarter-finals before facing Nadal in the semi-finals.

“I think it's perfectly reasonable. I'm not concerned about it. “I do have a lot of work ahead of me to play a potential game against Djokovic,” said Nadal, who has already won clay-court crowns in Barcelona and Rome this season.

Nadal defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the final of last year's postponed Roland Garros.

This was Nadal's 100th win in the competition, with only two defeats since his title-winning debut in 2005.

Nadal, who upset Djokovic in the Rome final, will begin his campaign against Australia's Alexei Popyrin, the world number 62.

The notion that he had been responsible for one of Nadal's losses in Paris, in the 2015 quarter-finals, gives Djokovic confidence.

He is indeed a four-time runner-up, however, three of those losses were in finals matches versus Spaniards.

Only two men have earlier ended up winning all four Slams on multiple occasions: Roy Emerson of the United States and Rod Laver of Australia. Laver's feat occurred in 1969.

In his opening round encounter, Djokovic will face 66th-ranked Tennys Sandgren of the United States, while Federer, who is competing in the competition for the first time since 2019, will face a qualifier.

Federer, who is approaching his 40th birthday, stays the sentimental top choice but his primary goal will be an attack on Wimbledon, where he has won eight titles.

“I'm not certain in the previous 50 years of the French Open, somebody simply shows in at almost 40 years old, after being away for a year and a half, and winning all straight,” Federer remarked after having lost his sole clay-court match this year last week in Geneva.

Dominic Thiem, the pursuing pack's two-time runner-up, is struggling with form and confidence.

Following a run to the Madrid semi-finals, he was defeated in straight sets by Cameron Norrie in his Lyon debut.

Daniil Medvedev, the world number two, has failed to win a match at Roland Garros in four tries.

Because of his distaste for clay, he stumbled upon the first obstacle in Rome and half-jokingly appealed with the referee to dismiss him.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number five, is the most probable guy to defy the odds and dethrone Nadal or Djokovic.

The 22-year-old Greek claimed the famous Monte Carlo clay court championship in April, had a match point before losing to Nadal in the Barcelona final, and then claimed the Lyon trophy.

He overcame Nadal on clay in Madrid in 2019 and took Djokovic to five sets in the French Open semi-finals in 2020.

This year's Roland Garros will become the second to be held in the shadow of the coronavirus.

A little more than 5,000 supporters per day will be permitted on site until June 9, when the limit will be increased to 13,000 spectators.

This year's event will feature nine nocturnal sessions for the first time.

As the Covid-19 curfew beginning at 9 pm, eight of those rounds would be hosted inside an empty Court Philippe Chatrier.

Meanwhile, Djokovic concluded an effective warm-up for the French Open by defeating Slovakian Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the ATP clay tournament in Belgrade on Saturday.

Molcan rated 255 in the world, broke Djokovic's service thrice in the opening set on three breakpoints, but managed to hold his position.

Djokovic grappled on his first serve in the first set, only getting 44% of them in and earning only six points. Despite this, he won the set with his fourth break in the tenth match.