Rafael Nadal faces old friend Richard Gasquet on familiar French Open turf

PARIS: World number one Rafa Nadal faces local hope Richard Gasquet in the third round of the French Open on Saturday in a clash between two long-time friends.

The Spaniard has won all of his previous 15 matches against the number 27 seed.

"We`ve known each other since 11 or 12 years old and grown up together, so it`s going to be a great pleasure to play against (Gasquet)," said Nadal, who is chasing a record-extending 11th Roland Garros title.

Kyle Edmund, the last Briton standing in the tournament, is up against Italian Fabio Fognini for the first time in his career in the day`s first match on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

In the woman`s draw, Serena Williams faces 11th seed Julia Goerges of Germany.

The American is playing her first Grand Slam since winning a 23rd title at the 2017 Australian Open and giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia in September.

Serena dug deep to come back from a set and a break down to defeat Australia`s Ashleigh Barty 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the second round.

Twice champion Maria Sharapova will take on Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova in a mouth-watering clash for a place in the last 16. 

Order of play on the main showcourts (all matches third round unless stated, times GMT, prefix numbers denote seeding):

Court Philippe Chatrier (play starts at 0900)

3-Garbine Muguruza (Spain) v Samantha Stosur (Australia)

28-Maria Sharapova (Russia) v 6-Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic)

1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) v 27-Richard Gasquet (France)

31-Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spain) v 5-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina)

Court Suzanne Lenglen (play starts at 0900)

18-Fabio Fognini (Italy) v 16-Kyle Edmund (Britain)

Irina-Camelia Begu (Romania) v 7-Caroline Garcia (France)

11-Julia Goerges (Germany) v Serena Williams (U.S.)

9-John Isner (U.S.) v Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France)

Court 1 (play starts at 0900)

Mischa Zverev (Germany) v 6-Kevin Anderson (South Africa)

3-Marin Cilic (Croatia) v Steve Johnson (U.S.)

12-Angelique Kerber (Germany) v 18-Kiki Bertens (Netherlands)

1-Timea Babos (Hungary)/Kristina Mladenovic (France) v Nao Hibino (Japan)/Oksana Kalashnikova (Georgia) - second round