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Navone, Mpetshi Perricard look to build upon ATP Tour breakthroughs
May 25, 2024
Mariano Navone is a six-time ATP Challenger Tour champion.
Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour
Mariano Navone is a six-time ATP Challenger Tour champion.
By ATP Staff
ATPTour.com lists five ATP Challenger Tour stars to keep your eyes on at Roland Garros.

Mariano Navone
The Argentine has accomplished a rare feat: being seeded in his first major main draw. Navone's rapid rise has seen him surge from last year’s season-leading five Challenger titles to where he is today, the 31st seed in Paris. A year ago today, Navone was No. 224 in the PIF ATP Rankings and had yet to win a Challenger title.

In just seven appearances at ATP Tour level, the 23-year-old has made two finals (Rio de Janeiro, Bucharest) and a semi-final (Marrakech). A highlight for Navone came earlier this month when he won his biggest career title at the ATP Challenger 175 event in Cagliari, Italy. Navone looks to continue his breakthrough season on the Parisian clay, where he faces Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Standing tall at 6’8”, Mpetshi Perricard’s hefty serve and one-handed backhand will quickly garner attention. The 20-year-old wild card arrives at Roland Garros following a dream maiden title run at the ATP 250 event in Lyon, his home city. The Frenchman saved a championship point en route to lifting the trophy. One of two players to win a trio of Challenger titles this season, Mpetshi Perricard is at No. 66 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting himself up for a career high.

‘Gio’ starts against David Goffin and should he beat the Belgian, Mpetshi Perricard will meet the winner of the blockbuster first-round match between fourth seed Alexander Zverev and 14-time champion Rafael Nadal.

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Terence Atmane
The lefty won a pair of Challenger titles in 2023 and now aims to make a splash at his home Slam. Competing at the season’s second major for the first time, Atmane produces electric shotmaking that will draw vocal support from French fans.

The World No. 120 faced Daniil Medvedev in the first round of the Australian Open and took the opening set off the eventual finalist, but Atmane was forced to retire in the fourth set due to cramps (Medvedev led 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0). The 22-year-old opens against Sebastian Ofner, who reached the fourth round last year.

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Valentin Vacherot
The Monegasque enjoyed a 15-match winning streak to start the Challenger season, lifting three titles along the way. It marked the longest winning streak to open a year on the Challenger Tour since 2017. In his first Grand Slam qualifying attempt this past week, Vacherot twice rallied from a set down to earn a spot in the field of 128.

The 25-year-old, at a career-high No. 116, aims at earning his highest-ranked win in the opening round against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, No. 34 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Thiago Agustin Tirante
A four-time Challenger champion, Tirante first cracked the Top 100 in February after reaching the second round of the ATP 250 in Santiago. Five weeks later, the 23-year-old was dominant in winning the Mexico City Challenger, where he did not lose a set all week to go one step further than last year’s final appearance at the clay-court event.

In the Argentine’s major main-draw debut last year at Roland Garros, Tirante earned an opening-round upset against 25th seed Botic van de Zandschulp. Tirante starts against Spaniard Pedro Martinez with a potential clash against sixth seed Andrey Rublev looming in the second round.

Nishikori, Rublev, Hurkacz, Dimitrov all on Sunday's card
May 25, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz is making his fourth Roland Garros appearance this fortnight.
Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images for ISDIN
Carlos Alcaraz is making his fourth Roland Garros appearance this fortnight.
By ATP Staff
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz headlines an action-packed opening day at Roland Garros, where Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka will renew their rivalry to close the evening on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The Spaniard Alcaraz, who was a semi-finalist last year in Paris, begins his quest for a third major title Sunday against lucky loser J.J. Wolf [Second match after 6 a.m. EST start / 12 p.m. CEST]. Alcaraz is playing just his second clay-court tournament of the season due to a right arm injury.

View Sunday's schedule

Fans will later be treated to a pair of three-time major champions contesting in their 23rd Lexus ATP Head2Head clash: Murray, former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and 2015 champion Wawrinka. The Scot holds a 13-9 record against Wawrinka, who defeated Murray in a 2017 semi-final thriller on the very court they will clash on Sunday [Not before 2:15 p.m. EST / 8:15 p.m. CEST].

Former No. 4 Kei Nishikori is set to make his first major appearance since the 2021 US Open with a first-round meeting against 6’8” Canadian Gabriel Diallo.

Top 10 seeds in action include Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz and Grigor Dimitrov. Rublev, who claimed his second ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid earlier this month, faces Taro Daniel. Hurkacz meets Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki. Dimitrov starts against American Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Rome finalist Nicolas Jarry looks to build upon his momentum this fortnight on the Parisian clay, where the Chilean reached the fourth round last year. Jarry faces a tricky opening-round test in French lefty Corentin Moutet.

Home favourites Ugo Humbert and Richard Gasquet are also on Sunday’s card. The 17th seed Humbert begins his tournament against Sonego and wild card Gasquet faces Borna Coric.