2017 French Open qualifying concluded prior to the tournament’s main draw start on Sunday, and a mix of younger players, and established veterans were able to secure their spots in the main draw, where they hope their three match winning streaks can continue on. Here is your look at this year’s batch of qualifiers.
The Veterans
26 year old Marius Copil, the top seed in qualifying, survived a pair of three setters and a close third set tiebreak to reach the main draw. He faces dirtballer Albert Ramos as an underdog in round 1 though. Italy’s Simone Bolelli has reached the third round in Paris twice before, and although he has yet to play an ATP match this season he was once a top 40 ATP player. Bolelli will try his hand at upsetting Dominic Thiem round 2, after facing Nicolas Mahut to start. Santiago Giraldo, formerly a top 30 player, who at one point reached the third round in Paris, is a dangerous first round opponent for Italy’s Andreas Seppi. Giraldo blazed through qualifying without dropping a set, if his forehand finds its home he could make a run. Career journeyman Marco Trungelliti has never reached the top 100, but he qualified for a slam again, dropping just one set en route. The Argentine will look to equal his career best French Open result by defeating wild card Quentin Halys in round 1.
32 year old Teymuraz Gabashvili hasn’t won a tour match this year but he came back from a set down three straight times to qualify and the one time top 50 player will try to equal his best ever round 4 result at the French Open. Gabashvili has a chance to knock off Richard Gasquet in round 2. 31 year old serve and volleyer Sergiy Stakhovsky has reached the third round in Paris once before, the former top 40 player had a tough road in qualifying, winning three, three-set matches. Stakhovsky is a favorite against Rendy Lu round 1, but David Goffin will be difficult in round 2. Formerly a top 15 player, French favorite Paul-Henri Mathieu continues to grind away at the lower levels of the tour, and would love to reach the second week in Paris yet again. Mathieu faces one of the best players in the draw, David Goffin, first up though, so taking a set will be a challenge.
Fresh Faces
Lucky loser Andrey Rublev has just one career slam win at age 19, but he’s still one of the brighest young stars on the ATP tour. If Rublev can upset Diego Schwartzman in round 1, he’d be well on his way towards making the top 100. 23 year old American Bjorn Fratangelo is a fresh face in the top 50, Fratangelo is an American clay court specialist and came through qualifying via a third set tiebreak win. Though he’s yet to experience much tour level success, Frantangelo has a great shot at upsetting Feliciano Lopez, who is poor on clay, in round 1. 22 year old Italian Stefano Napolitano is making his Grand Slam debut, Napolitano opens with serve and volleyer Mischa Zverev, and is at his best on clay.
21 year old Frenchman Maxime Hamou is making his second appearance in a Grand Slam, and looking for his first ever win. At his best on clay, and with the fans behind him, Hamou didn’t drop a set in qualifying and has been solid below the tour level this year. Pablo Cuevas should be too difficult in round 1 though. 24 year old Taro Daniel claimed his only career Grand Slam win in Paris last year, he came through qualifying dropping just a set, and is at his best on the surface, having also reached a quarterfinal on clay this season in Estoril. Daniel should get out of the first round again, but Pablo Carreno Busta is a difficult round 2 opponent.
Chile’s Nicolas Jarry is seeking his first ever Grand Slam win, the 21 year old dropped just a set in qualifying and is at his best on clay. Jarry has had a slow rise up the rankings but is 18-9 this season and has a puncher’s chance against Karen Khachanov in round 1. Arthur De Greef dropped just a set in qualifying, the 25 year old Belgian has been a bit of a late bloomer on tour, and is just now making his slam debut. At his best on clay, De Greef will try to upset a struggling Richard Gasquet in round 1.
Clay Court Specialists
Jozef Kovalik and Guido Pella round out the qualifiers. The 24 year old Kovalik is looking for his first ever Grand Slam victory, Kovalik came from a set down in the final round of qualies and has plenty of fight in him. Kovalik will be in trouble against Stan Wawrinka in round 1. Guido Pella dropped sets in his final two qualifying matches, the formerly top 40 Pella has four career slam wins, the Argentine dirtballing specialist has a difficult match against his countryman Juan Martin Del Potro though, and he’ll be a clear underdog from the start.
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