The injury and illness toll on the 2026 Roland Garros entry list deepened on Saturday, with four further women’s top-100 players confirmed out of the tournament 48 hours before qualifying gets under way at Porte d’Auteuil.
The qualifying rounds open on Monday 18 May, with the main draw ceremony scheduled for Thursday 21 May. Joining Paula Badosa, who confirmed her withdrawal from the qualifying field earlier in the week, are four more players who have now opted against travelling to Paris — a list headed by French No. 61 Varvara Gracheva, who has been ruled out by the anterior cruciate ligament tear she suffered in March.
It is the first time Gracheva has missed Roland Garros since 2019, breaking a streak that included a fourth-round run against Mirra Andreeva in 2024.
Long-term absences pile up. Britain’s Sonay Kartal, ranked world No. 56, is the second confirmed casualty among the long-term injured group, with her name removed from the entry list and Tamara Korpatsch slotting in as her replacement. Daria Snigur takes Gracheva’s spot.
The third removal is 2022 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who is unable to play after being provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency over three missed drug tests; Francesca Jones moves into the draw in her place.
The men’s picture is bleaker still. Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz remains the headline absentee, the world No. 2 having confirmed last month that the right wrist injury sustained in Barcelona would keep him out of Rome and Roland Garros as he prioritises recovery.
Alcaraz was due to be the second seed behind Jannik Sinner; he is the only seeded player so far removed from the men’s entry list. The defending champion’s absence ends any prospect of a Roland Garros three-peat after his back-to-back triumphs in 2024 and 2025, the latter coming in a final against Sinner that saved three championship points across a five-set comeback.
Italian semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti followed Alcaraz onto the sidelines earlier this week, the world No. 10 ruling himself out of both Hamburg and Roland Garros after a rectus femoris injury sustained during his fourth-round loss to Casper Ruud in Rome. The wildcard freed by Musetti’s withdrawal had initially been earmarked for Stan Wawrinka before being reallocated.
Britain’s Jack Draper has not played since retiring in Barcelona with a knee problem and is targeting the grass-court season for his return. Holger Rune, recovering from a serious Achilles injury, had hoped to come back before Paris but has now delayed his return further, missing both Hamburg and the Slam.
Doubts also surround Amanda Anisimova, who has not played since the Miami Open in March due to a left wrist injury, and British No. 1 Emma Raducanu, whose post-viral illness forced her out of Rome moments after she completed her pre-tournament media obligations.
Raducanu is now expected to drop to around No. 37 in the live rankings, almost certainly ending her chances of being seeded in Paris, with Strasbourg or Rabat the only remaining clay-court tune-up options should she be fit to compete at all.
The 2026 Roland Garros qualifying competition opens at Stade Roland-Garros on Monday 18 May.
