The battle to claim one of 16 main draw spots starts at Porte d’Auteuil on Monday
©Julien Crosnier / FFTUS Open 2014 champion Marin Cilic and former top 10 star Fabio Fognini headline the field of 128 men bidding to earn a place in the main draw of Roland-Garros 2025.
Young guns Brandon Holt, Elmer Moller and Ethan Quinn will look to disrupt the order among plenty of experienced competitors, while Adrian Mannarino leads a strong French contingent.
Here are five names to keep tabs on as the three men's qualifying rounds begin on Monday.
The former world No.3 has pretty much done it all - Grand Slam glory, an Olympic medal, Davis Cup silverware, 21 ATP titles, you name it.
Rewind to Roland-Garros 2022 and the Croat completed his Majors semi-final set with a run to the last four. However, since then the 36-year-old has endured the arduous rehab and recovery process from knee surgeries in early 2023 and May 2024.
Still hungry for more success, last September Cilic won the Hangzhou title as the world No.777, becoming the lowest-ranked champion in ATP history. Into 2025 and the world No.109 has recently competed on the second-tier ATP Challenger Tour, building up momentum for Paris with a title in Girona and a final showing in Madrid.
Cilic – who last played Roland-Garros qualifying with a successful run in 2007 - opens his account in a potentially pulsating duel with China’s Wu Yibing. The duo practised together onsite in Paris on Sunday ahead of the draw.
There is no one quite like Fabio Fognini. His shoulder-rolling swagger, slow-paced strut across the baseline punctuates his flamboyant shot making, which has graced the tour for the past two decades.
This is set to be the Italian’s final campaign on the terre battue, before hanging up his racket for plenty of family time pencilled in at the end of the year.
The former world No.9, a quarter-finalist at RG 2011, is seeking the perfect early birthday present in the upcoming week. Fognini turns 38 on 24 May, so can Fabio serve up some final flashes of brilliance to qualify?
First up Fognini takes on world No.149 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran.
Top seed Borna Coric has been playing plenty of top tennis this season.
The resurgent Croatian, who reached a career-high ranking of No.12 back in 2018, lifted three consecutive ATP Challenger titles in March.
Coric then earned the perfect Roland-Garros preparation earlier this month, clinching further ATP Challenger success with the Open Aix Provence title following a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over Stan Wawrinka.
Working back to his best, Coric has plenty of match play under his belt. The world No.84 landed a tough opener in Paris, across the net from home charge Titouan Droguet.
Former college tennis star Christopher Eubanks enjoyed a purple patch in 2023 with a quarter-final berth secured on the immaculate lawns at Wimbledon. As a result, Eubanks rocketed up to his finest ranking to date at No.29.
That season the towering American made his Roland-Garros main draw debut, falling in the first round in four sets to the No.6 seeded Holger Rune.
Searching to recapture his very best, the qualifying draw will be wary of Eubanks’ booming serve and smooth transition play up the court. A quarter-final on home US clay in Houston two months ago indicates that Eubanks can deliver in Paris.
The 29-year-old must hurdle the challenge presented by Austria’s Jurij Rodionov in the opening round.
Growing up with fellow Americans Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien on the courts of southern California, Nishesh Basavareddy is part of another exciting wave of talent representing the stars and stripes.
Having gone pro last December, the world No.100 shot into the global spotlight at this year’s Australian Open in a compelling tussle with his childhood idol Novak Djokovic. Basavareddy stormed through the opening set against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, before gallantly bowing out 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
The 20-year-old displayed his clay court credentials with a quarter-final spot at the Aix-en-Provence Challenger earlier this month.
Andrea Collarini represents his first opponent in qualifying at Porte d’Auteuil.
The Roland-Garros 2025 Opening Week is shaping up to be particularly exciting! Tickets are still available to come and support the future stars of the circuit and watch training sessions with the biggest names on the WTA and ATP Tours.
Click HERE to buy your tickets on the official Roland-Garros 2025 ticketing website
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
