Tennis Australia Press Release, May 15, 2024
Ajla Tomljanovic and Adam Walton have been awarded main-draw singles wildcards into Roland Garros.
Tomljanovic, a former World No. 32 and three-time Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist, made a winning return at a WTA 125 tournament in Parma, Italy, this week after being sidelined since February. She is looking forward to her ninth main-draw appearance in Paris.
“I’m excited to be back playing and so grateful to have the opportunity to play Roland Garros. I’m looking forward to getting out there and doing my best,” Tomljanovic said.
The World No. 219 has an impressive record at Roland Garros, with her best result a fourth-round appearance in 2014.
Tomljanovic has also recorded two top-five wins at the clay-court Grand Slam, including beating fifth seed Anett Kontaveit in the opening round in her most recent appearance in 2022.
Walton, currently sitting at a career-high ranking of World No. 111, has been recognised for his rapid improvement this season.
The 25-year-old from Brisbane has tallied 32 match wins and contested four ATP Challenger finals so far in 2024, boosting his ranking up more than 60 places since the start of the year.
Walton’s season highlights include scoring two top-100 victories to qualify at an ATP 250 tournament in Adelaide and making his ATP Masters 1000 main-draw debut in Miami as a qualifier.
The in-form Walton, a winner in 14 of his past 18 matches, can’t wait to compete at Roland Garros for the first time.
“This will be my first time at Roland Garros and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity to play main draw,” Walton said.
Tomljanovic joins compatriot Daria Saville in the women’s singles main draw, while Walton bolsters the number of Australians in the men’s singles main draw to nine.
Walton is set to compete alongside Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, Chris O’Connell, Aleksandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Max Purcell and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Roland Garros 2024 qualifying competition begins on 20 May, with main-draw action following from 26 May.
A further 13 Australian players (five men and eight women) are set to contest the qualifying competition, where they need to win three matches to earn a coveted main-draw berth.
The Australian players in qualifying are: James Duckworth, Marc Polmans, Li Tu, Omar Jasika, Dane Sweeny, Arina Rodionova, Astra Sharma, Taylah Preston, Olivia Gadecki, Kimberly Birrell, Talia Gibson, Destanee Aiava and Priscilla Hon.
