French Open Opens With Gauff Defending 1st Title and Sinner Leading Men’s Day 1

15 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · May 24

Roland Garros starts Sunday with defending women’s champion Coco Gauff opening her 2026 campaign against Taylor Townsend, while Jannik Sinner tops the men’s first-round slate.
Gauff, 22, begins her title defense after rallying past Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s final; Sabalenka also plays Sunday against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro as she chases a career Grand Slam.
Sinner takes center stage in Carlos Alcaraz’s day-one absence after losing last year’s final to the Spaniard, and opens against French favorite Clement Tabur.
Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev are also scheduled Sunday, while 39-year-old Gael Monfils faces Hugo Gaston in another stop on his retirement tour.
The first round marks the start of the year’s second Grand Slam after the long gap since the opening major, with Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu also in action.

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