The second Grand Slam of the tennis season opens Sunday at Stade Roland Garros with one of the largest Latin American contingents in recent memory, headlined by a record eleven Argentines in the main draws and reshaped by the late withdrawal of two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
The draw ceremony, held Thursday at the Bois de Boulogne, set the brackets for a tournament running through June 7. With Alcaraz out due to a persistent right wrist injury he has carried since Barcelona, the men’s title is the most wide open it has been in years — a development that has not gone unnoticed by South American players who have spent the spring building form on European clay.
Argentina leads the regional charge with ten men and one woman directly into the main draws. Tomás Etcheverry, ranked No. 25 in the world, is the country’s top-seeded entry, followed by Francisco Cerúndolo, Sebastián Báez, Mariano Navone, Román Burruchaga, Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, Thiago Tirante, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Francisco Comesaña and veteran Marco Trungelliti. The lone Argentine woman in direct entry is Solana Sierra, the Mar del Plata native who has become her country’s top-ranked player at No. 72 and reached the quarterfinals last week at the WTA 125 in Parma.
Francisco Cerúndolo remains the most realistic Latin American threat in the men’s draw. The Buenos Aires native is seeded inside the top 30, won his home tournament earlier this year, and reached the fourth round of Roland Garros in 2024 — a punishing baseliner whose game is built for the slow, heavy Parisian dirt. Báez, the former Latin American No. 1, has back-to-back Rio Open finals on his recent résumé. Etcheverry, this year’s Rio Open champion, arrives with confidence after a strong week in Hamburg.
Brazil’s hopes in the men’s draw rest with João Fonseca, seeded among the top 32, while Beatriz Haddad Maia carries the women’s flag despite a difficult start to 2026 that has seen her ranking slip to the high 60s. Paris is where Haddad Maia made history in 2023 as the first Brazilian woman to reach the Open era semifinals at Roland Garros, and the city has historically drawn her best tennis.
Chile is represented by veterans Tomás Barrios Vera and Nicolás Jarry in qualifying, while Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien and Juan Carlos Prado, Peru’s Gonzalo Bueno, and Colombia’s Nicolás MejÃa round out a South American presence of more than 20 players across main and qualifying draws. A separate name to watch is Luciano Darderi, the Argentine-Italian dual national who represents Italy but whose identity remains rooted in the region — he has piled up 48 clay-court wins since the start of 2024, won the Santiago title earlier this year, and could prove a difficult floater for any seed.
Jannik Sinner enters as the men’s favorite, riding a 36-win, two-loss season and chasing the only Grand Slam still missing from his collection. Novak Djokovic will play his 82nd major main draw, an all-time record, in pursuit of a 25th title. On the women’s side, defending champion Coco Gauff faces a familiar challenge from four-time Roland Garros winner Iga Swiatek, with World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka also in the mix.
Play begins Sunday, May 24. The women’s final is set for June 6, the men’s for June 7. The full tournament will be broadcast in Latin America on ESPN and Disney+.
