ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
Highlights
Match highlights: Goffin v Tseng QR1
The wait for the second major of the year came to an end at 10am sharp Paris time on Monday when the first shots were fired across the pristine red clay courts of Roland-Garros.
Roland-Garros Wrap - Mon May 18
Around the grounds on the opening day of qualifying
Sixty-four men’s and women’s qualifying matches filled a packed Monday schedule with some big names among those recording early wins in front of a sold-out 20,000-strong Day 1 crowd navigating the Porte d’Auteuil grounds.
As well as enjoying a stacked ‘qualies’ schedule, fans crammed around practice courts and show courts to get a glimpse of - among others - WTA stars Amanda Anisimova, Naomi Osaka, Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek as they began to tune up ahead of main draw action on Sunday.
On a chilly, mostly overcast day in Paris that made clay court conditions slow and heavy former world No.7 David Goffin warmed hearts inside Court Suzanne-Lenglen with an emotional 6-3, 6-1 victory over Tseng Chun-Hsin in his final appearance at the Paris major before retiring later this year.
“It’s something I’ve never felt on the court in my career,” the 35-year-old told RG’s Dan Imhoff when asked to describe the love from the Paris crowd as he began his on-court interview.
Later, former US Open champion and 2018 Roland-Garros finalist Sloane Stephens navigated her way into the second round by beating fellow American Carol Lee 6-3, 6-2 under the Lenglen retractable roof.
Afterwards the 33-year-old - who has reached the second week in Paris on nine occasions - explained to Chris Oddo that she still has plenty to prove late in her career.
Aryna Sabalenka during Monday practice
It was an early alarm call for men’s qualifying top seed Jesper De Jong who was on court at 10am to survive a tight first round test against China’s Sun Fajing in two tiebreak sets.
The Dutchman talked afterwards about the frustration of being one spot out of the main draw during the days leading up to qualifying, and how he accepted the task ahead of him once he stepped on court.
Elsewhere Thailand’s women’s top seed Lanlana Tararudee fell at the first hurdle to Greek Despina Papamichail in three sets on Court 3, while there were wins for former US Open quarterfinalist Lloyd Harris, past Roland-Garros semi-finalist Tamara Zidansek, and Marco Cecchinato, who enjoyed a run to the last four in Paris back in 2018.
Monday’s action came to a dramatic close at around 10.15pm when Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin won a remarkable deciding tiebreak 15-13 against American Kayla Day, saving two match points along the way.
Frenchman Ugo Blanchet (above) saved three match points on his way to beating Britain's Charles Broom
As the build-up to Sunday’s first round tennis continues, read our interview with 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, who told Alex Sharp about his memories of watching Roland-Garros as a kid after school.
And Remy Bourrieres analyses last week's Rome results to pick out a handful of players to look for when the Roland-Garros singles draws are made this Thursday.
Tuesday’s tennis awaits when another 64 first round qualifying matches will be settled across 14 courts. RG’s Alix Ramsay chooses three to keep an eye on when play starts at 10am.