Uphill task for Somdev, Sania at French Open

India's Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza have been handed tough draws in their respective singles at the French Open, starting Sunday.

Somdev will face Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, while Sania has been drawn against Kristina Barrois of Germany.

Ranked 66, Somdev faces an uphill task against the world No 36 Ljubicic, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2006 for his career best Grand Slam performance and made it to the third round at Roland Garros last year.

Somdev has never played the former world No 3 before but can take heart from the fact that he is in good form this season, having made it to the pre-quarter-finals at Indian Wells, where he lost to World No 1 Rafael Nadal.

This is the 26-year-old Indian's second appearance in the French Open main draw.

World No 74 Sania is also not expected to have an easy outing against Barrois, ranked 59, who reached the final of the Estoril Open in April.

In her four appearances at the French Open, Sania has cleared the second round only once, in 2007.