French Open 2024 Preview: When is it, who is playing and what is the prize money?
The French Open buzz is getting louder and louder, as fans anticipate what is set to be another historic fortnight ahead in Paris.
And we, at Tennishead, have everything you need to know about the second major of the year:
When is the French Open 2023?
Main draw action in Paris will get underway on Sunday 26th May, with the the tournament concluding on Sunday 9th June with the women’s doubles final and men’s singles final.
Play on most days will get underway at 11am Parisian time (10am BST), with night sessions on Court Philippe-Chatrier beginning no earlier than 8:15pm local time (7:15 BST).
Wheelchair events take place between Tuesday 4th June and Saturday 8th June.
To find out the full schedule for the fortnight in the French capital, visit the official Roland Garros website here.
Where is the French Open held?
The French Open returns to Stade Roland Garros for a 96th time, featuring a total of 20 red clay courts on the complex.
Court Philippe Chatrier is the headline act and features the biggest stars throughout the two weeks, holding a total of 15,225 spectators.
Other show courts include Court Suzanne Lenglen (10,056 seats) and Court Simon Mathieu (5,000 seats).
Suzanne-Lenglen unveils its roof ????#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/TTpWOwu3mp
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 20, 2024
Who is playing at Roland Garros 2024?
Singles draws feature 128 players, with defending champion Novak Djokovic as the top seed in the men’s field.
The Serbian are has had a mixed season so far, and is still without a title in 2024 heading into the second major of the year.
However, the world No.1 has claimed victory on three occasions at Roland Garros, with Rafael Nadal the only player in the field to have won more titles at the tournament than Djokovic.
????????????2️⃣3️⃣❤️???????? #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/KOxvOq3d18
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 11, 2023
Nadal is a record 14-time champion at Roland Garros, but has struggled to look like himself of old since returning to the ATP Tour in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
This could potentially be Nadal’s final appearance at the Paris major, and it will begin against fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Monday.
Nadal raising the intensity before the Zverev matchup ????#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ckTEypHQmW
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 23, 2024
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz make up the top four seeds, but both have been struggling with hip and arm injuries, respectively, that forced them to withdraw from the Italian Open.
Some of the other top seeds include Daniil Medvedev, as well as former finalists Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud.
The only other former champion remaining in the men’s singles draw is Stan Wawrinka, who will take on 2016 finalist Andy Murray in the first round.
Andy Murray’s last three opponents at #RolandGarros:
2017: Stan Wawrinka (SF)
2020: Stan Wawrinka (R1)
2024: Stan Wawrinka (R1)???????? ???????????????????????????? @andy_murray @stanwawrinka pic.twitter.com/nbOca07Fu9
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 23, 2024
Roland Garros wildcards were handed out to Australian Adam Walton and American Nicolas Moreno de Alboran, as part of a reciprocal scheme with the Australian Open and the US Open.
The remaining wildcards were offered to entirely French players, with Richard Gasquet, Terence Atmane, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Harold Mayot, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Alexandre Muller all receiving one.
???????? Roland-Garros 2024 wildcards have been announced!
Women’s singles (Main draw)
???????? A. Cornet
???????? F. Ferro
???????? E. Jacquemot
???????? K. Mladenovic
???????? C. Paquet
???????? J. Ponchet
???????? A. Tomljanovic (@TennisAustralia)
???????? S. Vickery (@usta)Men’s singles (Main draw)
???????? T. Atmane
???????? R.…— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 14, 2024
In the women’s field, three-time champion Iga Swiatek is once again the top seed and overwhelming favourite after winning both the Madrid Open and Italian Open.
If the world No.1 does triumph in Paris once again, she will surpass Serena Williams and join Justine Henin on four titles at Roland Garros.
However, she will face tough competition from the likes of Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, 2022 finalist Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina, with the latter the only player to beat Swiatek on clay so far in 2024.
As well as Swiatek, there are two other previous Roland Garros champions featuring in the draw in Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova, with former finalists Sloane Stephens, Marketa Vondrousova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Sofia Kenin and Sara Errani also returning.
Similarly to the men’s draw, wildcards have been awarded to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, American Sascha Vickery, and six Frenchwomen including Alize Cornet, Fiona Ferro, Elsa Jacquemot, Kristina Mladenovic, Chloe Paquet and Jessika Ponchet.
As a result of receiving a wildcard, Cornet will be making a record 69th appearance in a Grand Slam main draw, in what will be the 34-year-old’s final tournament after announcing her retirement.
2005 ⏩️ 2024
20 Roland Garros plus tard…
Merci @FFTennis de me permettre de choisir ma sortie grâce à cette wild card. Je ne pourrais pas rêver mieux ????
Et à cette gamine de 15 ans : tu t’en es pas trop mal sortie, petite ????
Rdv dans dix jours à la Porte d’Auteuil ???? pic.twitter.com/Zwmf1XoGaQ
— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) May 16, 2024
READ NEXT: Rafael Nadal ‘not the same’ claims Novak Djokovic after reacting to Roland Garros draw
How many ranking points are on offer at the French Open 2024?
With the Paris Olympics also approaching, this is the last big opportunity for players to pick up major ranking points in the race to qualify for the Games.
Here is a breakdown of points for all the various different events:
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Round of 64 | Round of 128 | Q | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Men’s singles | 2000 | 1300 | 800 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 10 | 25 | 16 | 8 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s doubles | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| Women’s singles | 1300 | 780 | 430 | 240 | 130 | 70 | 10 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 2 | |
| Women’s doubles | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
Wheelchair
| Event | W | F | SF/3rd | QF/4th |
| Singles | 800 | 500 | 375 | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doubles | 800 | 500 | 100 | — |
| Quad Singles | 800 | 500 | 100 | — |
| Quad Doubles | 800 | 100 | — | — |
Junior
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | Q | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys’ Singles | 1000 | 600 | 370 | 200 | 100 | 45 | 30 | 20 |
| Girls’ Singles | ||||||||
| Boys’ Doubles | 750 | 450 | 275 | 150 | 75 | — | — | — |
| Girls’ Doubles | — | — | — |
What is the prize money for French Open 2024?
The total prize money for all the different events over the next fortnight in Paris is €53,478,000, with the French Tennis Federation increasing it by 7.82% from last year.
Here is a breakdown of all the different prize money offerings:
| Event | W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | R128 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Singles | €2,400,000 | €1,200,000 | €650,000 | €415,000 | €250,000 | €158,000 | €110,000 | €73,000 | €41,000 | €28,000 | €20,000 |
| Doubles* | €590,000 | €295,000 | €148,000 | €80,000 | €43,500 | €27,500 | €17,500 | — | — | — | — |
| Mixed Doubles* | €122,000 | €61,000 | €31,000 | €17,500 | €10,000 | €5,000 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wheelchair Singles | €62,000 | €31,000 | €20,000 | €12,000 | €8,500 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wheelchair Doubles* | €21,000 | €11,000 | €8,000 | €5,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quad Wheelchair Singles | €62,000 | €31,000 | €20,000 | €12,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quad Wheelchair Doubles* | €21,000 | €11,000 | €8,000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
*Per team
Last year’s French Open winners
As previously mentioned, Novak Djokovic lifted a third Roland Garros title last year after a convincing final victory over Casper Ruud.
It was not such a straightforward final in the women’s singles draw, with Iga Swiatek being pushed all the way by Karolina Muchova.
Unfortunately Muchova is unable to return to the tournament this year, with an ongoing wrist injury still causing issues for the Czech.
Here are all of the champions and runners-up from all 15 French Open events in 2023:
| Event | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Men’s Singles | Novak Djokovic | Casper Ruud |
| Women’s Singles | Iga Swiatek | Karolina Muchova |
| Men’s Doubles | Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek | Sander Gille & Joran Vliegen |
| Women’s Doubles | Hsieh Su-wei & Wang Xinyu | Leylah Fernandez & Taylor Townsend |
| Mixed Doubles | Miyu Kato & Tim Puetz | Bianca Andreescu & Michael Venus |
| Wheelchair Men’s Singles | Tokito Oda | Alfie Hewett |
| Wheelchair Women’s Singles | Diede de Groot | Yui Kamiji |
| Quad Wheelchair Singles | Niels Vink | Sam Schroder |
| Wheelchair Men’s Doubles | Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid | Martin de la Puente & Gustavo Fernandez |
| Wheelchair Women’s Doubles | Yui Kamiji & Kgothatso Montjane | Diede de Groot & María Florencia Moreno |
| Quad Wheelchair Doubles | Andy Lapthorne & Donald Ramphadi | Heath Davidson & Robert Shaw |
| Boys’ Singles | Dino Prizmic | Juan Carlos Prado Angelo |
| Girls’ Singles | Alina Korneeva | Luciana Perez Alarcon |
| Boys’ Doubles | Yaroslav Demin & Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez | Lorenzo Sciahbasi & Gabriele Vulpitta |
| Girls’ Doubles | Tyla Caterina Grant & Clervie Ngounoue | Alina Korneeva & Sara Saito |
How can you watch the French Open 2024?
You can watch the French Open exclusively on Eurosport and Discovery+ in the United Kingdom and across Europe, Tennis Channel in the USA and Prime Video in France.
For more information on how you can watch the second major of the year in your location, visit the official tournament website here.
READ MORE – Roland Garros 2024: Popcorn matches from the men’s singles draw
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