Tennis Australia Press Release, May 12, 2022

Daria Saville (Vic) and Chris O’Connell (NSW) have been awarded main draw wildcards into Roland Garros, beginning in Paris on Sunday 22 May.

Saville, the former world No. 20, is on the comeback trail from plantar fasciitis and Achilles surgery. She has risen an incredible 500 ranking spots already this year, moving from 627 in February to a current ranking of 132.

The 28-year-old reached her first WTA 1000-level quarterfinal in Miami, the last 16 at Indian Wells and holds an impressive 14-8 win-loss record in 2022. 

Saville says she is eager to return to the prestigious clay courts of Paris for the first time in two years.

“I’m super excited and really grateful for the opportunity to play Roland Garros this year,” Saville said.

“It means so much to get a wildcard and to have ongoing support from Tennis Australia. I really am going to make sure that I make the most of this wildcard.”

France holds a lot of memories for Saville and her tennis career so far. 

“It’s (Roland Garros) one of my favourite tournaments. I did really well when I was a junior here (making the 2009 girls’ singles final), so I have a lot of memories.

“I trained at Mouratoglou Academy a few years ago, so I feel like France is pretty close to my heart. It was my home for a few years, so I’m really excited to be playing here.

“I love being in Europe, I love the clay. I really enjoy being back on the tour, I’ve missed it so much.”

Saville will join the country’s highest ranked female [41] Ajla Tomljanovic and [147] Astra Sharma in the women’s main draw.

O’Connell joins six other Australians in the men’s singles draw at Roland Garros.

The world No.125 has been awarded a wildcard after winning an ATP Challenger on clay in Split, Croatia in April and reaching the third round of the Australian Open, where he scored a straight-sets win over world No.13 Diego Schwartzman in the second round.

The 27-year-old Sydneysider says he is really looking forward to competing in Paris. 

“I’m very excited and grateful Tennis Australia has given me the opportunity to compete in the main draw once again,” O’Connell said.

“This wildcard means I now don’t need to go through the physical and mental rigours of qualifying which I experienced at Wimbledon last year.

“I’ve been playing well on the clay over the past month and hope to continue that form heading into Roland Garros.”

The Sydneysider will travel to Switzerland to compete at an ATP 250 event in Geneva before heading to France.

In total, ten Australians will contest the singles main draw in Paris, with a further 12 Aussies set to compete in qualifying. Four Australians will play the junior competition.

Qualifying begins next Monday 16 May.

Australians competing in singles at Roland Garros 2022

 

Main draw (22 May to 5 June 2022)
Men	Women
[22] Alex de Minaur (NSW)	[41] Ajla Tomljanovic (Qld)
[70] James Duckworth (NSW)	[132] [WC] Daria Saville (Vic)
[85] Jordan Thompson (NSW)	[147] Astra Sharma (WA)
[87] John Millman (Qld)
[88] Thanasi Kokkinakis (SA)
[125] [WC] Chris O’Connell (NSW)
[127] Alexei Popyrin (NSW)
Qualifying (16 to 20 May 2022)
[124] Aleksandar Vukic (NSW)	[127] Maddison Inglis (WA)
[172] Max Purcell (NSW)	[132] [PR] Priscilla Hon (Qld)
[174] Jason Kubler (Qld)	[169] Olivia Gadecki (Qld)
	[181] Lizette Cabrera (Qld)
	[190] Arina Rodionova (Vic)
	[191] Storm Sanders (WA)
	[211] Ellen Perez (NSW)
	[217] Seone Mendez (NSW) [235] Jaimee Fourlis (Vic)
Junior main draw (29 May to 4 June 2022)
[43] Jeremy Jin (NSW)	[35] Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (SA)
	[39] Taylah Preston (WA)
Junior qualifying (26 to 28 May 2022)
[66] Edward Winter (SA)