Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic could meet in the French Open quarter-finals

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic could face each other earlier than expected at the French Open.

A possible quarter-final showdown between the nine-time Roland Garros champion and the world No 1 has been set up after Friday's draw.

Andy Murray, the British No 1, has been drawn in the same half of the draw as Nadal and Djokovic meaning he could meet them in the semi-finals.

He was drawn against a qualifier in the first round, and after the qualifying tournament came to an end, his opponent was confirmed as Facundo Arguello of Argentina.

Nadal's sixth seeding heading into the clay court event, an uncharacteristically low ranking due to his poor form and injury lay-offs, meant he was destined to face a top seed at an earlier stage than he is used to.

In the first round, Djokovic will face Jarkko Nieminen while second seed Roger Federer and fourth seed Tomas Berdych will play qualifiers.

Federer will take on Colombia's Alejandro Falla and Yoshihito Nishioka was paired with Berdych.

Kei Nishikori, the fifth seed, will play Paul-Henri Mathieu in his opening match while Nadal has been pitted against Quentin Halys.

David Ferrer, the seventh seed, meets Lukas Lacko and the eighth seed Stan Wawrinka has been drawn opposite Marsel Ilhan.

Should all the favourites progress to the latter stages, Murray would be challenged by Ferrer in the last eight. Federer could meet Wawrinka, and Berdych would play Nishikori.

Britain has two other players in the main draw, with Aljaz Bedene facing Dominic Thiem of Austria and qualifier Kyle Edmund facing Frenchman Stephane Robert.