Roland Garros Announces 2021 Wild Cards
Hugo Gaston, a breakout star at last year’s Roland Garros, is among seven French players awarded wild cards for this year’s clay-court major.
In 2020, Gaston reached the fourth round as a wild card with an upset of 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka. He would push Dominic Thiem to five sets and finish the season inside of the Top 200 for the first time.
Seven of the wild cards are being awarded to French players with the eighth yet to be announced. It will go to an Australian player as part of the reciprocal agreement between the two Grand Slams.
French teenager Arthur Cazaux will make his Grand Slam debut. This week at the Gonet Geneva Open, Cazaux picked up his first tour-level victory by defeating Adrian Mannarino in three sets. He’s currently ranked No. 517 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and Geneva marks his fourth tour-level event.
Gregoire Barrere will also appear in the main draw in Paris. Ranked World No. 123, Barrere just qualified for the main draw at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon with a win over countryman Antoine Hoang.
The other wild cards will go to Benjamin Bonzi (who at No. 115 was on the cusp of the main draw), Mathias Bourgue, Enzo Couacaud and Arthur Rinderknech. Earlier this year, Rinderknech made a run to his first tour-level quarter-final, at the Open 13 Provence, and followed it by a third-round appearance at the Serbia Open.
Roland Garros will begin on 30 May.