The Roland Garros main draw is complete after the final eight qualifiers booked their spots on Friday, led by two #NextGenATP competitors who will be making their Grand Slam debuts in Paris. 

Two 20-year-olds, Swede Mikael Ymer and Frenchman Elliot Benchetrit, battled through three-setters on the final day of qualifying to reach the main draw of the year’s second major. Ymer, the 32nd qualifying seed, beat fourth-seeded Swiss Henri Laaksonen 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes to move through, and he will face another qualifier, Slovenian Blaz Rola, in the first round. Rola ousted Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-3, 6-2 in 76 minutes.

“I feel very emotional right now,” Ymer told RolandGarros.com. “It’s what we all work for since we were kids, a big milestone in my career.”

Although Ymer is 0-2 at tour-level this year, he has enjoyed success on the ATP Challenger Tour, claiming his first title at that level in Noumea, New Caledonia in January and reaching two additional finals.The World No. 149 won an ATP Masters 1000 match last year in Miami against Jan-Lennard Struff.

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Benchetrit, currently No. 273 in the ATP Rankings, overcame countryman Enzo Couacaud 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 after one hour and 55 minutes. Benchetrit will face Brit Cameron Norrie in his first tour-level match.

Top seed Tennys Sandgren will compete in the Roland Garros main draw for the third straight year after beating home favourite Mathias Bourgue 7-6(1), 7-5 in one hour and 46 minutes. It will be the 2018 Australian Open quarter-finalist’s seventh consecutive major main draw, and he will open against Moldovan Radu Albot. 

Italian Simone Bolelli, who reached the third round at Roland Garros in 2008 and 2015, will play the main draw in Paris for the 13th straight year after dismissing Japan’s Go Soeda 6-1, 7-6(5). Bolelli will try to upset home favourite and Australian Open semi-finalist Lucas Pouille.

The other three players who moved through are Frenchman Alexandre Muller, who beat Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4, Spaniard Pedro Martinex, who ousted Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-3, 6-1, and Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, who eased past Lucas Miedler 6-2, 6-4.

Did World No. 1 Novak Djokovic turn into The Hulk at Roland Garros?

On Friday, the top seed posted a video of himself on social media placing cones around a depression in the gym floor so other players and their teams would avoid the area. That’s because, not realising the surface underneath the cushioning is wood, Djokovic threw a medicine ball down as part of his warmup routine before practice, breaking the wood.

“Today warming up in the gym before my practice I used a medicine ball by slamming it on the floor pretty hard. As a result, I wrecked a wooden floor. @RolandGarros please forgive me!” Djokovic wrote, before replying with a second tweet. “Just FYI I left Paris for several days until the investigation is completed… my participation at RG is maybe under review? ???” 

Just fyi I left Paris for several days until the investigation is completed.. my participation at RG is maybe under review? ???

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) May 24, 2019

Djokovic, who noted on Instagram that he will ‘pay his dues’, was joking about leaving Paris. Instead, he will try to win his fourth consecutive Grand Slam title. The Serbian begins his tournament against 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Hubert Hurkacz.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime booked his place in a second ATP Tour final of 2019 on Friday evening after coming through a hard-fought 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory against top-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in two hours and 16 minutes at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 19-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who also beat Basilashvili at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March, will now play Benoit Paire of France in Saturday’s final at the ATP 250 tournament. It will be a first-time FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Auger-Aliassime lost to Laslo Djere on 24 February in the Rio Open presented by Claro final .

Basilashvili took control immediately, storming through the first set with two service breaks in 27 minutes, but the World No. 18 was unable to convert three break points on Auger-Aliassime’s serve at 4-4 in the second set. The Canadian later broke clear from 3/3 in the tie-break.

Auger-Aliassime saved two break points at 2-3 in the decider and grew in confidence when Basilashvili struck consecutive backhand errors in the seventh game. Auger-Aliassime finished his 20th match win of the year with his 12th ace. Basilashvili, who is left to rue converting only two of nine break point chances, is now 14-12 on the season.

Earlier in the day, Paire blasted his way into his seventh ATP Tour final. The 30-year-old struck 10 aces and won 33 of 34 first-service points to overcome American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 in 65 minutes.

Paire, who is 2-4 in ATP Tour finals, lifted trophies at the 2015 Swedish Open (d. Robredo) and the Grand Prix Hassan II at Marrakech (d. Andujar) in March this year.

Dodig/Roger-Vasselin Advance To Lyon Doubles Final
Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin will attempt to capture their second team trophy of the season after the second seeds swept past fourth seeds Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes.

This year’s Open Sud de France titlists will next challenge another all-British team, third-seeded brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski, in Saturday’s final. The Skupskis are 3-5 in team finals, including victory last month at the Hungarian Open.

The ATP and the Laver Cup announced today an agreement that will make the annual men’s team event, in which Europe takes on the rest of the world, an official part of the annual ATP Tour calendar.

The agreement gives the event, now approaching its third competition in Geneva, Switzerland this September, access to ATP services, including marketing and social media, along with operational personnel such as officials and physios.

“The Laver Cup team is incredibly excited about this partnership with the ATP. It has always been our hope to build the Laver Cup in partnership with the tennis world, and certification by the ATP after only two editions is an overwhelming validation of our vision,” said Tony Godsick, President and CEO of TEAM8, and Chairman of the Laver Cup.

“We created the Laver Cup to celebrate the greats of the game – past, present and future – and grow interest in our great sport of tennis,” Godsick added. “Partnering with the ATP positions us to continue to achieve that mission and reach even greater audiences.”

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said that the reception by tennis fans globally was a major factor in the ATP’s wish to form a partnership.

“The Laver Cup has struck a chord with fans worldwide in a very short time,” said Kermode. “It’s been great to see the passionate participation of the players and the response from the fans at the sold-out events in Prague and Chicago. This event has great potential to reach new fans around the world, and all of us at the ATP are excited to include the Laver Cup as an official part of the ATP Tour calendar and have it featured alongside other tournaments on all our platforms.”

Roger Federer, a partner in TEAM8 who tasked his team with creating the Laver Cup to honour not just the great Rod Laver, but the coterie of tennis legends who paved the way for the success of the current game, said he was delighted with the news.

“As I come closer to the end of my playing career, it’s wonderful to know that the Laver Cup will be part of the tour that I’ve dedicated more than 20 years of my life to. This partnership is a wonderful example of how the tennis family can unite to promote and grow the sport we all love.”

Currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of winning the ‘Grand Slam’ for the second time in 1969, Rod Laver praised the ATP’s official endorsement of his namesake event which has further cemented his legacy.

“I am grateful to the ATP for recognising that the Laver Cup plays an important role in raising awareness of the amateur era of tennis and my fellow ‘barnstormers”. I am honoured and thankful for what has been achieved and to Roger for doing this for us,” said Laver.

The values of the Laver Cup – commitment to excellence, focus on the team, respect for the opponent, and love for the game – has been embodied by the two inaugural captains, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

“Anyone who has seen the Laver Cup knows this is an event that everyone had to get behind. I am proud to have been a part of its genesis, and thankful to the ATP for choosing to endorse it,” said McEnroe.

“The Laver Cup is my favourite week of the year,” said Borg. “I have enjoyed working with all the generations of players and being in front of the fans once again.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who played the second Laver Cup last year in Chicago, said, “The Laver Cup is a true celebration of tennis that is loved by the fans and embraced by the players. I experienced it first hand as a player, and as President of the ATP Player Council I’m proud to support this collaboration.”

ATP Tournament Board Representative Charles Humphrey Smith said, “The Laver Cup showcases the world’s greatest male tennis players in a whole new way. It grows interest in the game which benefits all of us in the industry.”

The third edition of the Laver Cup will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 20-22 September 2019. Register at LaverCup.com for more information and to receive regular updates.