The 2026 Roland-Garros tournament burst into life on Monday morning as the first qualifying matches got underway at 10am local time at Stade Roland-Garros, signaling the start of three weeks of clay-court competition that will culminate with the men’s singles final on Sunday, June 7.
Although the main draw does not begin until Sunday, May 24, the Porte d’Auteuil grounds were already buzzing as 128 men and 128 women began chasing 16 qualifying spots in each draw, with main-draw players moving through practice sessions on courts that included Philippe-Chatrier itself.
This year’s Opening Week arrives with the French Tennis Federation reporting an increased daily capacity of 20,000 fans through the gates. An Opening Week ticket grants visitors access to the 10,000-capacity Court Suzanne-Lenglen, qualifying matches on the outside courts, and the rare chance to watch the world’s top seeds tune up at close quarters before the main draw begins.
Qualifying. The men’s qualifying field is headlined by former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, who arrives in Paris on a six-match losing streak, including his last two outings on the Challenger circuit. The Bulgarian, seeded in qualifying, faces Portugal’s Jaime Faria, ranked 119th in the ATP, in a first-round assignment that will test how far his form has slipped.
David Goffin, the former world No. 7, begins what has been billed as the swansong of his 14th Paris campaign against Taiwan’s Chun-Hsin Tseng. Jesper de Jong, the top men’s seed, opens against China’s Sun Fajing, while Emilio Nava, Pedro Martinez, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alex Molcan are all in a draw that will require three wins to reach the main event. Sixteen French players take their places on the starting line, hoping to convert home support into a main-draw ticket by Wednesday.
The women’s qualifying draw is, if anything, more star-studded. Former US Open champions Sloane Stephens and Bianca Andreescu, along with former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, all line up alongside former Roland-Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and past semi-finalists Martina Trevisan and Tamara Zidansek.
Top seed Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand, ranked 99 in the world and a recent winner over Andreescu in Austin, opens against Greece’s Despina Papamichail.
Monfils farewell. The Opening Week’s signature emotional moment is set for Thursday, May 21, when Court Philippe-Chatrier will host a tribute night for Gael Monfils from 7.30pm. The French showman is playing his final Roland-Garros before retiring at the end of the 2026 season.
The men’s and women’s singles draws will be made earlier that same Thursday at 2pm in the Orangery buildings, with media day on Friday and the traditional Yannick Noah Day taking over the grounds on Saturday.
The main event in waiting. All of this opens the door to a main draw that will be played out under heavily altered circumstances. Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the trophy in 2024 and 2025, will not be in Paris this year after a wrist injury ended his clay season.
His absence reshapes the men’s draw around world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who arrived in the French capital fresh from completing his career Golden Masters at the Italian Open on Sunday. On the women’s side, defending champion Coco Gauff faces a challenging path after losing the Rome final to Elina Svitolina, with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina also in the frame.
For now, though, the spotlight in Paris belongs to the players battling through three rounds of qualifying for the golden ticket of a main-draw spot. Their work begins on Monday. The first round of the main draw starts on Sunday, May 24, and runs through the following Tuesday before the tournament settles into its rhythm at Porte d’Auteuil.
