With the absence of John Isner, the American men weren't going to have a single seed at Roland Garros this year—until the withdrawal of Milos Raonic moved Frances Tiafoe into the No. 32 spot.

To make things even more difficult, the U.S. up-and-comers drew some tough first-round matches, and not even necessarily against seeded opponents.

Reilly Opelka, for example, pulled 22-year-old dark horse Cristian Garin, who's taken two clay titles this swing (in Houston and Munich, more than Rafael Nadal) and won 12 of his last 14 matches.

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And Tommy Paul was rewarded for his clay performances this year with a French Open wild card, only to draw No. 4 seed, Barcelona champion and defending Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem.

Tiafoe, despite his seed, drew Filip Krajinovic, who's won 15 of his last 17 matches (including ATP Challengers) and made an ATP tour-level final in Budapest last month .

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Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz got the always unpredictable Bernard Tomic, and Mackenzie McDonald is set to face Yoshihito Nishioka, who's been making a strong comeback from a torn ACL.

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The more experienced American men fared a little better in the draw, but just slightly. The first rounds will be: Steve Johnson vs. Roberto Bautista Agut, Bradley Klahn vs. Alex de Minaur, Sam Querrey vs. Pedro Martinez, Denis Kudla vs. Miomir Kecmanovic and Tennys Sandgren vs. Radu Albot.

Follow Cody on Twitter: @CodyFitz96.

U.S. men draw tough
opening opponents at
Roland Garros

U.S. men draw tough opening opponents at Roland Garros