Friday's French Open draw brought the mouthwatering prospect of a quarterfinal between world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and nine-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal.
Nadal, whose performance has suffered since appendix surgery late last year, has lost one of his 67 matches in Paris. He begins his campaign for a 10th crown against France's Quentin Halys.
MORE: Women's draw, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova | French Open odds
Djokovic will meet Nadal in the last eight if both players avoid an upset. Djokovic will be in action against Jarkko Nieminen in his opener. Djokovic is also looking to complete a career grand slam.
The reward for winning that potential quarterfinal could be a last-four clash with in-form Andy Murray, who will face a qualifier in the first round.
Top eight seeds:
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Jarkko Nieminen
Roger Federer (2) vs. qualifier
Andy Murray (3) vs. qualifier
Tomas Berdych (4) vs. qualifier
Kei Nishikori (5) vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu
Rafael Nadal (6) vs. Quentin Halys
David Ferrer (7) vs. Lukas Lacko
Stan Wawrinka (8) vs. Marsel Ilhan
MORE: Will Nadal be dethroned? | TV schedule | Raonic withdraws | Storylines | American winners in Paris
Top U.S. player John Isner enters at No. 16 and faces Italy's Andreas Seppi in his first match. Jack Sock's first-round opponent is No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov.
In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Roger Federer heads the field and kicks off with a match against another qualifier.
Tomas Berdych looks set to provide Federer's main competition for a place in the final and the Czech will also be in action against a qualifier first up.
Canada's Milos Raonic withdrew from the French Open on Wednesday. He is recovering from foot surgery and now aims to be ready for Wimbledon.
Vasik Propisil of Canada awaits a qualifier in his first-round match.