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The French Open – the second of the grand slam tennis tournaments to be held in 2022 – will feature an impressive list of 22 Australian players trying to win the title at Roland Garros and become the latest Australian to do so.
Ashley Barty won in 2019, Sam Stosur made the final in 2010 and Hana Mandlekova won it in 1981, but for the men it has been very slim pickings since 1969 when Rod Laver beat Ken Rosewall to win the title in an all-Aussie final.
Since that time, only two men – Phil Dent (1977) and Pat Rafter (1997) – have made it into even the semi-finals.
This year, for the first time since 1975, 12 female contestants will take part in the French Open. Ajla Tomljanovic and Astra Sharma both had rankings high enough to make it into the main draw, and Daria Saville – after some recent good form – was awarded a wild card.
(Under an arrangement between the four grand slams, one Aussie female and one male receive a wild card to the main event).
Amongst the contingent of nine players in the female qualifying event, 24-year-old West Australian Madison Inglis has a world ranking of 124 and is the 18th seed in the qualifiers. Madison faces world No.169-ranked Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens in the first round. If she wins this, she could be well set to reach the final round of the qualifiers.
Another West Australian, Storm Sanders, (27) proved she is capable, winning three qualifying rounds to secure a main draw spot at Roland Garros last year. It marked the first time the left-handed Sanders had qualified at a major tournament. However, repeating the task will be a lot harder this year, as she meets the world number 99 Zhu Lin of China in the first round. Lin is the third seed in the qualifiers.
Olivia Gadecki, 20, from Queensland also meets a seeded player in American Haley Baptiste in the first round of the qualifiers but could surprise, given her recent movement up the rankings.
Two other Australians, Arina Rodionova and Queenslander Priscilla Hon, play opponents whose world rankings closely match their own, so both could expect a close tussle.
On paper, the female Aussie with the best chance of advancing past the first round is Lizette Carbera. The 24-year-old Queenslander faces French wildcard Emeline Dartron, a 22-year-old ranked No.441, in the first round.
The three remaining Aussie women, Ellen Perez, Jaimee Fourlis and Seone Mendez, all face higher-ranked opponents but all are on an upward curve in their careers and are not without some chance of advancing.
Only three Aussie men are competing in the French Open qualifiers, but Aleksander Vukic is also ranked 18th seed in his tournament and – like Madison Inglis – is a good chance to progress further.
Max Purcell and Jason Kubler also outrank their first round opponents and so could progress to the main draw and join the six Australian men (Alex de Minaur, James Duckworth, John Millman, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexei Popyrin) who have received direct acceptance into the clay-court major, while Chris O’Connell is a wildcard recipient.
Nick Kyrgios decided to bypass the tournament this year but would have been another certain starter if he had applied.
Whilst none have yet produced the form to suggest they will make the Round of 16 at Roland Garros, they will all give a good showing and give us something to be proud of.
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