Roland-Garros opened its 2026 edition on Monday with the first day of qualifying at Stade Roland-Garros, the start of a three-week stretch in the French capital that culminates in the men’s final on June 7.
Cool, overcast conditions made the clay slow and heavy across the outside courts, but the day produced its share of emotion, statement wins from former Grand Slam champions, and a clutch of seed-toppling upsets in both draws.
Goffin’s farewell begins. The signature moment of Monday belonged to David Goffin, the former world No. 7 now ranked 249th, who beat Tseng Chun-Hsin 6-3, 6-1 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in what will be his final visit to Roland-Garros.
The 35-year-old Belgian, who announced earlier this season that he will retire at the end of 2026, made his Paris debut as a qualifier back in 2012, when he ran to the fourth round as a lucky loser and pushed Roger Federer to four sets.
Fourteen years later he returned to the same stage where it started, this time as a wild card into qualifying, and was overcome by the reception from the Lenglen crowd. “It’s something I’ve never felt on the court in my career,” Goffin said in his on-court interview afterwards, describing the response from Parisian fans as unlike anything he had experienced in a long career. A second-round meeting now stands between him and a final crack at the Roland-Garros main draw.
Stephens through in straight sets. Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens, the 2018 Roland-Garros finalist, navigated her opener against fellow American Carol Young Suh Lee 6-3, 6-2 under the closed Lenglen retractable roof.
The 33-year-old, who has reached the second week in Paris on nine occasions during her career, is back in qualifying as her ranking has slipped, but spoke afterwards about still having work to do late in her career.
Stephens joins compatriots and former tour mainstays Bianca Andreescu and Karolina Pliskova in a qualifying field stacked with former major champions and ex-top-ranked players, a reflection of how compressed the WTA’s competitive depth has become at the foot of the rankings.
Top seeds tumble. The biggest upset of the women’s day came on Court 3, where Thailand’s top seed Lanlana Tararudee, the world No. 99 and an Austin WTA 125 champion this season, lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Greece’s Despina Papamichail after dropping the opening set in just over half an hour.
Sixth seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva and 10th seed Yuan Yue also exited at the first hurdle, the Spaniard losing to Elena Pridankina and the Chinese No. 10 seed beaten by Britain’s Harriet Dart 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
On the men’s side, the highest-profile casualty was Britain’s Daniel Evans, beaten 6-4, 6-4 by 17-year-old French wild card Daniel Jade. Ranked outside the world’s top 1,400, the teenager and three-time ITF junior titleholder this season is chasing his first Grand Slam main-draw appearance.
Wins for the experienced. Elsewhere in qualifying, former US Open quarterfinalist Lloyd Harris, 2021 Roland-Garros semifinalist Tamara Zidansek, and 2018 Paris semifinalist Marco Cecchinato all advanced, the latter two former deep-runners in the main draw now battling through qualifying to get back.
Top men’s seed Jesper de Jong edged past China’s Sun Fajing 7-6(4), 7-6(5), and Italian teenager Federico Cina, a top contender for the Next Gen ATP Finals later this year, got past Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 6-4.
The day’s drama stretched almost to the closing of the gates: home favourite Oceane Dodin saved two match points before winning a deciding-set tiebreak 15-13 against American Kayla Day at 10.15pm local time, while Frenchman Ugo Blanchet saved three match points to see off Britain’s Charles Broom.
Looking ahead. Qualifying continues through Friday, with 16 men and 16 women earning main-draw places before the singles draws are made on Thursday afternoon at the Orangery.
Gael Monfils will be honored on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday evening ahead of his own retirement at the end of the season, and first-round main-draw play begins on Sunday, May 24.
