As the second Grand Slam of the season, the French Open marks the crescendo of the professional clay court season as top players from around the country all look to turn heads on the world-famous red clay at Roland Garros.

With many former champions not included in the singles draw, including the 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, the field is poised for a newcomer to make a splash, with many current and former collegians looking to fill that void.

In 2023, 21 players with college ties make up the men’s and women’s singles draw with 16 men’s players in the men’s singles draw and five women’s players in the women’s singles draw.

Francisco Cerundolo (23) (South Carolina), Cameron Norrie (14) (TCU), and Ben Shelton (30) (Florida) all enter the French Open as seeded players with Norrie being the highest-ranked and seeded collegian in the draw.

Former Texas A&M Aggie, Patrick Kypson, makes his first Grand Slam appearance since turning a full-time pro in 2018. The former under-18 boys champion qualified for the French Open main draw through the USTA’s Rolland Garros Wildcard Challenge.

JJ Wolf (Ohio State) and Shelton will both look to build on strong Australian Open runs over the next few weeks in Paris. The duo met in the fourth round in Melbourne with Shelton coming out victorious and advancing to his first Grand Slam Quarterfinal of his young career.

On the women’s side, it is a wave of youth sweeping the main draw as current collegians and first-year pros, Diana Shnaider (NC State), Emma Navarro (Virginia), and Peyton Stearns (Texas) all received direct entry into the main draw. All three of these players have made their WTA Top 100 debut this year and will look to keep establishing themselves on tour at the French Open.

Danielle Collins (Florida, Virginia) will be up against fellow American, Jessica Pegula in the opening round. The two-time NCAA Singles Champion is the last collegian to make a Grand Slam finals appearance when she did so at the Australian Open in 2022.

These athletes make up just a small percentage of the total current and former collegians taking part in this year’s French Open. Be on the lookout in the coming days for the men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles draw where collegians will be making up many of the teams.

Play is set to begin Sunday, May 28th from Paris, France. Action will run through June 11th when all of the Grand Slam Champions will have been crowned.


Men’s Singles

PlayerSchoolRank
Nuno BorgesMississippi State76
Francisco CerundoloSouth Carolina28
Maxime CressyUCLA42
Chris EubanksGeorgia Tech75
Marcos GironUCLA74
Yannick HanfmannUSC65
John IsnerGeorgia89
Aleksandar KovacevicIllinois114
Patrick KypsonTexas A&M323
Mackenzie McDonaldUCLA56
Brandon NakashimaVirginia52
Cameron NorrieTCU14
Arthur RinderknechTexas A&M78
Ben SheltonFlorida35
JJ WolfOhio State49

Women’s Singles

PlayerSchoolRank
Aliona BolsovaFAU, Oklahoma State131
Danielle CollinsFlorida, Virginia45
Leolia JeanJeanLynn, Baylor, Arkansas129
Emma NavarroVirginia82
Mayar SherifPepperdine55
Diana ShnaiderNC State107
Peyton StearnsTexas69

Men’s Doubles

PlayerSchoolRank
Saketh MyneniAlabama75
Tim Puetz (11)Auburn24
Andreas Mies (12)Auburn29
Sadio DoumbiaAUM, Georgia47
Andre GoranssonCalifornia63
Ben McLachlanCalifornia73
Joran VliegenEast Carolina41
Sander GilleETSU40
Ben SheltonFlorida141
Diego HidalgoFlorida109
Jan Zielinski (7)Georgia12
Rajeev RamIllinois3
Neal Skupski (1)LSU1
Michael Venus (13)LSU17
Joe SalisburyMemphis4
John PeersMiddle Tennessee, Baylor37
Julian CashMississippi State, Oklahoma State48
William BlumbergNorth Carolina91
Rinky HijikataNorth Carolina34
Aleksandr NedovyesovOklahoma State64
Nathaniel Lammons (16)SMU32
Francisco CerundoloSouth Carolina239
Miguel Ángel Reyes-VarelaTexas76
Lloyd Glasspool (5)Texas10
Jackson Withrow (16)Texas A&M33
Austin Krajicek (4)Texas A&M5
Arthur RinderknechTexas A&M155
Gonzalo EscobarTexas Tech55
Marcelo Arevalo (3)Tulsa6
Maxime CressyUCLA66
Jean-Julian Rojer (3)UCLA6
Marcos GironUCLA566
Mackenzie McDonaldUCLA60
Henry PattenUNC Asheville50
Robert FarahUSC62
Nicolas BarrienntosWest Florida65
Robert GallowayWofford80

Women’s Doubles

PlayerSchoolRank
Alexa GuarachiAlabama48
Erin RoutliffeAlabama34
Desirae Krawczyk (5)Arizona State11
Aliona BolsovaFAU, Oklahoma State71
Ingrid NeelFlorida70
Anna DanilinaFlorida25
Mayar SherifFresno State, Pepperdine271
Ellen Perez (6)Georgia15
Aldila Sutjiadi (16)Kentucky32
Leolia JeanJean (W)Lynn, Baylor, Arkansas574
Alicia BarnettNorthwestern73
Luisa Stefani (8)Pepperdine23
Elixane LechemiaSouth Carolina140
Peyton StearnsTexas200
Ena Shibahara (7)UCLA21
Angela KulikovUSC63
Giuliana OlmosUSC17
Sabrina SantamariaUSC59
Danielle CollinsVirginia133
Emma NavarroVirginiaN/A

Mixed Doubles

PlayerSchoolRank
Austin Krajicek (1)Texas A&M5
Elixane LechemiaSouth Carolina140
Tim Puetz (11)Auburn24
Luisa StefaniPepperdine23
Giuliana Olmos (3)USC17
Neal Skupski (3)LSU1
Anna DanilinaFlorida25
Aldila SutjiadiKentucky32
Ellen Perez (6)Georgia15
Jan Zielinski (6)Georgia12
Marcelo Arevalo (7)Tulsa6
Leolia JeanJean (W)Lynn, Baylor, Arkansas574
John PeersMiddle Tennessee, Baylor37
Michael VenusLSU17
Jean-Julian Rojer (4)UCLA6
Ena ShibaharaUCLA21
Jackson WithrowTexas A&M33
Lloyd GlasspoolTexas10
Nathaniel LammonsSMU32
Desirae Krawczyk (2)Arizona State11
Joe Salisbury (2)Memphis4
- Advertisement -
College Tennis Alumni Network

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here