ORLANDO, February 15, 2022 (USTA Press Release)
The Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, which utilizes clay-court professional tournaments to award an American man and woman a main draw wild card into the French Open, is returning this spring and will begin the week of April 4 for both the men and the women. The USTA and FFT have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw wild cards for the 2022 French Open and US Open will be exchanged.
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. All red-clay and Har-Tru events at the 25 level and above, including WTA and ATP Tour events, will be included in the Challenge.
The men’s and women’s challenges begin with tournaments on the week of April 4. The last week of the men’s challenge is April 25. The last week of the women’s challenge is May 2.
Americans who otherwise earn direct entry into the French Open are not eligible, nor are players ranked in the ATP or WTA Top 50 at the start of the challenge. 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 has utilized this Challenge format to award wild cards into the Australian, French and US Opens. This is the second such Challenge to be contested since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, following the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge contested last fall, which was won by Stefan Kozlov, who reached the second round in Melbourne in January, and Robin Anderson.
Previous Americans to earn wild cards into the French Open (year specified is the year of the tournament):
2019: Tommy Paul (1R); Lauren Davis (2R)
2018: Noah Rubin (1R); Taylor Townsend (2R)2017: Tennys Sandgren (1R); Amanda Anisimova (1R)2016: Bjorn Fratangelo (2R); Taylor Townsend (2R)2015: Frances Tiafoe (1R); Louisa Chirico (1R)2014: Robby Ginepri (1R); Taylor Townsend (3R)2013: Alex Kuznetsov (1R); Shelby Rogers (2R)2012: Brian Baker (2R); Melanie Oudin (2R)
