Alexander Blockx arrives at Roland Garros still chasing his first major match win, but he has arrived at the tournament with momentum after a breakout start to 2026.

Earlier this week he appeared alongside Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek and Daniil Medvedev at a Tecnifibre event. As a child he had commemorated a visit to Turin by having his photo taken with Medvedev. “It was my first appearance at the Next Gen Finals as a fan back then. He was already a professional tennis player at the highest level,” Blockx reflected.

“I knew I had a very long way to go, but somewhere I also knew I would get there one day as well. It’s definitely special to be here now and go through everything he has been going through as well. It’s nice to see that the work paid off.”

So far in 2026 Blockx has moved into the ATP Top 40. The Antwerp native reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, knocking off Felix Auger-Aliassime, Francisco Cerundolo and Casper Ruud along the way. That run came between a pair of wins at Monte Carlo and Rome, a sequence that has raised expectations without changing his daily approach.

“For me personally, not much has changed. Of course the ranking is higher now but I’m still doing the same things,” he says. “Maybe the players recognize me a bit more, but I’ll still be playing tennis as if I have no ranking. It’s just the process for me. I will always like it.”

Blockx is now Belgium’s No. 1. Zizou Bergs sits just two spots behind him in the rankings and Raphael Collignon is establishing himself as a Top 100 mainstay, signaling a new generation emerging at home.

David Goffin made his final French Open appearance earlier this week in the second round of qualifying. Reflecting on Goffin’s record and influence, Blockx was emphatic. “I think he was the best Belgian male tennis player we ever had. Did a lot of great things. Brought Belgium to the Davis Cup Finals two times, played the finals at the Nitto ATP Finals. If we could sign a paper with his career, we would immediately sign it,” declared Blockx.

“It’s definitely something we cannot take for granted. It’s sad that he will be retiring at the end of the season but at the other side, he’s had an amazing career. The next generation is competing so high right now, Raphael and Zizou are playing amazing tennis this year. He definitely has a few Belgians to back him up in the future.”

Arthur Fils has withdrawn from Roland Garros and will not play his scheduled first-round match against Stan Wawrinka. The French Tennis Federation listed “an injury” as the reason for the withdrawal, removing a seeded player from the men’s draw.

Fils had earlier retired four games into his Rome opener against Andrea Pellegrino because of a hip issue. He had offered an optimistic update on social media shortly afterward: “Felt something during the match in Rome,” he wrote on X. “I ran all the tests with the team and everything is clear. Already back to work for Paris. Thanks for the messages.”

This is the second consecutive year that an injury has disrupted Fils’s campaign at his home major. A year ago he pushed through a second-round clash with Jaume Munar but sustained a stress fracture in his back that ultimately sidelined him for eight months.

The 21-year-old had staged a notable comeback this season after missing the Australian Open, advancing to the final in Doha and the semifinals in Miami. He also won in Barcelona and compiled nine consecutive clay wins, a run that included a deep showing in Madrid, where he reached the final four.

Organizers and fans will now adjust to the change in the draw following the seed’s late withdrawal. The development truncates a much-anticipated meeting with a former major champion and removes one of the young French players expected to feature on the clay at Roland Garros.

© 2026 Tim Clayton

Eighteen-year-old Lilli Tagger has completed a swift transition from junior champion to Grand Slam competitor. A year after taking the 2025 girls’ singles title at Roland Garros without dropping a set, the Austrian arrives for her main-draw debut after cracking the Top 100 in April.

Tagger, a Lienz native, entered the tournament ranked a career-best No. 91 and said the pace of her ascent still surprises her. “It feels honestly crazy. Strange,” she reacts. “Last year came here playing the juniors and now I’m here playing the women’s main draw. I didn’t expect it would go so fast in one year. We worked every single day. It went super quick.

“It’s not a thing that happens every day, so I will go out there and enjoy the moment.”

She arrived in Paris on Wednesday and will make her first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw with an experienced voice at her side. Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 champion who finished runner-up the following year, is in Tagger’s corner. The pair share a one-handed backhand, a detail Tagger mentions when discussing her coaching setup. “I think I’m lucky to have her by my side. She know what’s happening to me and with her backhand, it’s unique,” says Tagger.

On the player-coach dynamic, Tagger added: “The things she tells me, sometimes I don’t expect what she says. But the most interesting part is how she builds up a game or how she lives her life,” she says. “She knows when to work and when to enjoy life.”

I didn’t expect it would go so fast in one year. We worked every single day. It went super quick. Lilli Tagger

Tagger is scheduled to face No. 32 seed Wang Xinyu on Sunday. Off court, she says she enjoys competition of a different sort: “I love to compete off the court. Play golf, cards with my friends. I love to make jokes with my team, about them actually,” she laughed. “And I can’t wait to go out there and start the tournament.”