Ex-top 10, 40 French, Suzanne-Lenglen: why you need to follow the Roland-Garros qualifiers

Former Roland stars already on deck

For his final appearance at Roland-Garros, where he played two finals (2018, 2019), Dominic Thiem (30 years old) did not obtain an invitation to the final draw. The Austrian, who will retire at the end of the season, will therefore have to scrape in a qualifying table where he will be seeded. Without this being a guarantee of success, the 117th in the world (former number 3) is suffering this season, the fault of his right wrist which does not let go. He will need to double his number of victories on clay in 2024 (3 wins for 6 losses) to enter the big picture.

Semi-finalist Porte d’Auteuil in 2020, after an epic match against Thiem in the quarterfinals (7-6 [1]5-7, 6-7 [6]7-6 [5], 6-2), Diego Schwartzman (31) is having an even more complicated year. The Argentinian (142nd in the ATP, ex-number 8) has not obtained the slightest victory in six tournaments and continues to fall in the rankings, he who was still in the top twenty in the world in October 2022. For him too , this Roland will be the last, its withdrawal from the circuit being scheduled for the beginning of 2025.

Sara Errani (37), finalist in 2012 and world number 5 a year later, returned to the Top 100 (93rd) after achieving some good results in recent weeks. But the Italian had not made the cut at the time of the deadline, a month ago, and will have to escape the trap of qualifying as number 1 seed to afford a fourteenth participation in the big draw .

Also note that the table is full of former winners of the Junior tournament, starting with the last two, the Croatian Dino Prizmic (2023) and the Frenchman Gabriel Debru (2022). Chilean Cristian Garin (2013), number 1 seed who climbed into the top 20 in his career, and Geoffrey Blancaneaux (2016) also have their names on the list.

28 French people involved… just among the men!

There will be blue everywhere during this opening week at Roland Garros. In total, 40 French people will fight for a place in the final draw, including 28 in the men’s draw alone, or nearly one player in four. With profiles as diverse as those who have already enjoyed great emotions on Parisian clay (Enzo Couacaud, Grégoire Barrère, Benjamin Bonzi), young people who dream of a first epic (Arthur Géa, Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg, Maé Malige ) or former members of the top 20 (Benoît Paire, Lucas Pouille). All these little people are approaching this week with real ambitions, to try to join the sixteen French people already assured of being affected by the draw for the final draw on Thursday.

The Blues will start from further away, the current form not encouraging great optimism. But the carefreeness of youth and the particular scent of this Grand Slam at home could carry some of them. And why not one of the many young people that the FFT has decided to invite, above all so that they can gain experience (Sarah Iliev, Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Jenny Lim, Astrid Lew Yan Foon, Daphnée Mpetshi Perricard) . And maybe more…

Jules Marie madness

Beyond Paire or Pouille, who have already set Roland-Garros on fire in the past, Jules Marie (32 years old) will be one of the attractions of the days to come for the Parisian public. The 225th player in the world, who has been documenting his return to the ATP circuit on YouTube for more than two years (120,000 subscribers to his channel), should be followed by a community eager to see him join the big picture in Paris. The atmosphere for his entry into the running could, however, be a little less warm than hoped, since he will face another Frenchman on Monday, Titouan Droguet (146th).

The Norman is also the only player in these qualifiers already guaranteed to be present at Porte d’Auteuil in a fortnight, since he will participate in the event organized by the streamer Domingo on Suzanne-Lenglen on Thursday June 6 . By then, it’s not impossible that he will have already ignited the second most important court at Roland-Garros during this week of qualifying.

First for Suzanne-Lenglen

This is in fact one of the new features this year: the Suzanne-Lenglen, which will also inaugurate its roof, will host matches from the first day of qualifying, in a desire to make this “Opening Week” even more eventful. Up to 10,000 spectators will be able to gather there for the best displays, just to avoid frustration and long queues on the side courts.

With also the ambition to further increase attendance this week. “We had 50,000 people last year, we would like to reach 75,000 this time, and we will rely on the use of Lenglen to achieve this objective,” said Amélie Mauresmo, director of the tournament, during of the presentation of this 2024 edition, on April 25. Also to take the atmosphere up a notch, a trend that has been confirmed over the years.