It’s time for the culmination of the clay season — the French Open (or, Roland-Garros, more properly) — when hundreds of the world’s top tennis players will gather in Paris to test their chances and their patience on the dirt in the second major of the year.

The main draw kicks off on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at 11:00 am Paris time (5:00 am ET in the U.S.). This year’s ultimate red clay test concludes with the men’s singles final and the women’s doubles final on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

Here’s a preview of this year’s Roland-Garros, with a look at some of the big questions and fine details so you can get the most out of the next two weeks of action from Paris.

1) Is anybody ready to challenge Jannik Sinner? With Carlos Alcaraz (and Jack Draper and Lorenzo Musetti and Arthur Fils and Holger Rune) withdrawing from this year’s Roland Garros, can anybody end Sinner’s 29-match winning streak? Statistically speaking, carrying out another seven rounds over two weeks of play isn’t exactly favorable. Yet, at this point, it’s not clear who could possibly stand in his way. It may turn out that the weather will prove to be Sinner’s biggest opponent, as temperatures are expected to hit the 90s every day for at least the first week of the tournament — conditions that have induced severe cramping throughout his career. If he can defeat them all, he lands a career Grand Slam.

2) Is the Queen of Clay back? Iga Swiatek has not had the clay season she would have wanted. She is 6-3 coming into this year’s Roland-Garros. And although the first two tournaments were very subpar, she did display form reminiscent of her dominant days during the Italian Open before losing to eventual champion Elina Svitolina in three sets. Were those few matches in Rome enough to put her back on track for her most important tournament of the year? We’ll see. But if she makes it to the quarterfinals, she’s projected to face Svitolina once again. That will prove to be a serious mental test. If she passes, she’ll be in a good mental space to take the whole thing.

3) Can anybody crack the Big Four? No, not the (almost entirely) retired ATP players. We’re talking Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff. They’ve dominated the majors for the last few years, with a Madison Keys exception here and a Barbora Krejcikova exception there. Given health and recent form considerations, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva, Victoria Mboko, and Karolina Muchova don’t seem poised to disrupt them. But don’t sleep on Elina Svitolina, who seems to be peaking at just the right moment.

4) Will there be a women’s night match? Speaking of women’s tennis, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo hasn’t scheduled a women’s match in prime time for two years. Might there be a change of heart in 2026? We’ll see. But this issue might take a back seat to the very heated prize money debate that has taken center stage in recent weeks. Or will Mauresmo schedule women’s matches at night in an attempt to pacify some of the players on the prize money front?

Some additional storylines worth tracking:

TNT Sports continues its coverage of Roland-Garros after its debut year in 2025. The group has signed on top commentary talent that includes John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Lindsay Davenport, Jim Courier, Chris Evert, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Chris Eubanks, and Sam Querrey, among others. Coverage will appear on TNT and truTV, with all matches streamed on HBO MAX.

Get the full rundown on how to catch Roland-Garros action at Tennis Watchers.

It’s rare that all the top 8 seeds make it to the quarterfinals of a major, but — who knows? — maybe we can make Roland-Garros history this year. And, if that happens, here are the projected quarterfinal match-ups based on seedings.

Women’s quarterfinals:
(1) Aryna Sabalenka vs. (5) Jessica Pegula
(4) Coco Gauff vs. (6) Amanda Anisimova
(7) Elina Svitolina vs. (3) Iga Swiatek
(8) Mirra Andreeva vs. (2) Elena Rybakina

Men’s quarterfinals:
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. (5) Ben Shelton
(4) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (6) Daniil Medvedev
(8) Alex de Minaur vs. (3) Novak Djokovic
(7) Taylor Fritz vs. (2) Alexander Zverev

Stay up-to-date on the women’s and the men’s singles draws on the Roland-Garros site.

Whether it’s fellow countrypeople or fan favorites facing off — or just the unluckiest of draws — here are some first-round Roland-Garros 2026 matches that we simply wish weren’t happening.

In the women’s draw:

In the men’s draw:

Eight men and eight women received wild cards into the French Open. Big names, scrappy upstarts, and junior stars have made their way onto the list.

Men’s Singles Wild Cards: Nishesh Basavareddy (USA), Titouan Droguet (FRA), Hugo Gaston (FRA), Arthur Gea (FRA), Moise Kouame (FRA), Gael Monfils (FRA), Clement Tabur (FRA), Adam Walton (AUS)

Women’s Singles Wild Cards: Clara Burel (FRA), Ksenia Efremova (FRA), Fiona Ferro (FRA), Leolia Jeanjean (FRA), Emerson Jones (AUS), Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah (FRA), Alice Tubello (FRA), Akasha Urhobo (USA)

Doubles wild cards to be announced.

After five days of grueling qualifying rounds in Paris, here are the 16 women and men who qualified for this year’s Roland-Garros main draw:

Women’s singles: Susan Bandecchi (SUI), Marina Ribera Bassols (ESP), Lucia Bronzetti (ITA), Maja Chwalinska (POL), Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE), Hanyu Gio (CHN), Sinja Kraus (AUT), Ashlyn Krueger (USA), Alina Korneeva (RUS), Claire Liu (USA), Elena Pridankina (RUS), Mayar Sherif (EGY), Rebecca Sramkova (SVK), Sloane Stephens (USA), Kaitlin Quevedo (ESP), Xiyu Wang (CHN)

Men’s singles: Facundo Diaz Acosta (ARG), Juan Carlos Prado Angelo (BOL), Federico Cina (ITA), Hugo Dellien (BOL), Jaime Faria (POR), Thomas Faurel (FRA), Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA), Kyrian Jacquet (FRA), Emilio Nava (USA), Luka Pavlovic (FRA), Andrea Pellegrino (ITA), Jurij Rodionov (AUT), Pablo Llamas Ruiz (ESP), Roman Safiullin (RUS), Toby Samuel (GBR), Michael Zheng (USA)

More than $70 million in prize money is set to be distributed at Roland-Garros in 2026. Here’s a breakdown of the round-by-round prize money. Final dollar amounts may change with exchange rates.

Majors are the time for cashing in not just on prize money, but also on ranking points. Here’s how the singles points break down:

A few things to get you in the mood:

Keep up with Roland-Garros news and conversations: