ORLANDO, Fla., April 9, 2024 (USTA Press Release)
Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and Katie Volynets lead the Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge standings after the first week. The Challenge utilizes clay-court professional tournaments to award an American man and woman a main draw wild card into the French Open, as the USTA and FFT have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw wild cards for the 2024 French Open and US Open will be exchanged.
Moreno de Alboran qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Marrakech, Morocco, last week, while Volynets qualified and reached the second round of the Charleston Open WTA 500.
The full standings are below, along with each player’s current ranking in parenthesis:
Men’s Standings
T3. JJ Wolf (102) — 25
T3. Aleks Kovacevic (96) — 25
5. Aidan Mayo (286) — 16
Women’s Standings
1. Katie Volynets (104) — 57
2. Katrina Scott (485) — 35
T3. Amanda Anisimova (238) — 32
T3. Shelby Rogers (353) — 32
5. Hailey Baptiste (107) — 30
Both the men’s and women’s wild cards will be awarded to the Americans with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three clay-court tournaments during a five-week window for the women and a four-week window for the men. The last week of the men’s challenge is April 22. The last week of the women’s challenge is April 29.
All red-clay and Har-Tru events at the 35 level and above for the women and the 25 level and above for the men, including WTA and ATP Tour events, will be included in the Challenge.
Americans who otherwise earn direct entry into the French Open, or those who enter with a protected ranking, are not eligible. Should the player with the highest number of challenge points earn direct entry into the French Open, the wild card will go to the next eligible American in the Challenge points standings. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or best WTA singles ranking on the Monday immediately following the challenge’s conclusion will earn the wild card.
The USTA utilizes this Challenge format to award wild cards into the Australian, French and US Opens. Previous Americans to earn wild cards into the French Open via the Challenge and how far they advanced at Roland Garros include:
2023: Emma Navarro (2R); Patrick Kypson (1R)
2022: Katie Volynets (2R); Michael Mmoh (1R)
2019: Lauren Davis (2R); Tommy Paul (1R)
2018: Taylor Townsend (2R); Noah Rubin (1R)
2017: Amanda Anisimova (1R); Tennys Sandgren (1R)
2016: Taylor Townsend (2R); Bjorn Fratangelo (2R)
2015: Louisa Chirico (1R); Frances Tiafoe (1R)
2014: Taylor Townsend (3R); Robby Ginepri (1R)
2013: Shelby Rogers (2R); Alex Kuznetsov (1R)
2012: Melanie Oudin (2R); Brian Baker (2R)