In-form Rafael Nadal faces a major test if he is to claim ‘La Decima’, a 10th title at Roland Garros this year. The Spanish superstar has been drawn in the same half of the draw as defending champion Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem, the player who beat him in last week's Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals. View Draw Fourth seed Nadal will meet France’s Benoit Paire in the first round as he looks to add to his incredible 72-2 record at the clay-court Grand Slam championship, where he has clinched the 2005-08, 2010-14 crowns. Nadal could meet No. 31 seed Gilles Simon in the third round, with a potential quarter-final against fifth seed Raonic, who begins his quest against...
#NextGenATP's Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of eight players who qualified for the main draw of Roland Garros with final-round qualifying wins on Thursday. Among those also reaching their first Grand Slam main draw are Nicolas Jarry and Stefano Napolitano. Tsitsipas encountered few problems moving past Oscar Otte of Germany 6-3, 6-2. The 18-year-old Greek player has never played the main draw of a Grand Slam before. He showed promise on clay by reaching back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour finals on the surface last October in Morocco. Nicolas Jarry had never won a round at a Grand Slam prior to this week, but the Chilean is through to the main draw after defeating #NextGenATP American Reilly Opelka 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3. The 21...
A slew of #NextGenATP players are one match away from making their main draw debut at Roland Garros after winning second-round qualifying matches on Wednesday, including Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Bublik, Reilly Opelka and Andrey Rublev. Eighteen-year-old Tsitsipas enjoyed a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over local favourite Gleb Sakharov. The Greek player will next face Oscar Otte of Germany, who survived a match point at 5-6 in the deciding set to defeat 28th seed Laslo Djere of Serbia 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2). Rublev, the 18th seed, advanced past Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Standing between the 19-year-old Russian and a place in the main draw is fourth seed Taro Daniel, who breezed through Matija Pecotic of Serbia 6-3,...
Argentina's Marco Trungelliti started making his way back to the Roland Garros main draw on Tuesday, beating 23rd seed Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the second round of qualifying in Paris. Trungelliti, No. 161 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, gained the biggest win of his career last year at Roland Garros. After qualifying, the 5'11” right-hander upset then World-No. 10 Marin Cilic in the first round. [ALSO LIKE] Italian Alessandro Giannessi knocked out home hopeful Calvin Hemery of France 7-5, 6-3. German Tobias Kamke converted three of four break points to beat American Rajeev Ram 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Serbia's Filip Krajinovic advanced past Australia's Sam Groth 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. Slovakia's Jozef Kovalik, who beat Cilic...
More than a handful of #NextGenATP players advanced a step closer to the Roland Garros main draw on Monday during day one of qualifying in Paris. Norwegian Casper Ruud, a semi-finalist in Rio earlier this year, made quick work of Belgian Yannik Reuter, advancing 6-3, 6-2 in 67 minutes. The 18-year-old Ruud is trying to make his Grand Slam debut. American Reilly Opelka, seeking to qualify at Roland Garros for the first time, hit 14 aces to beat Spain's Daniel Munoz de la Nava 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. Opelka made his Grand Slam debut earlier this year by qualifying at the Australian Open. [ALSO LIKE] Opelka's countryman 19-year-old Stefan Kozlov also advanced, prevailing against France's Corentin Moutet 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Greece's...