For the first time since 1999, there will be at least nine Australians contesting the men’s singles main draw at Roland Garros.

Paris, France, 21 May 2024 | Leigh Rogers

The impressive depth in Australian men’s tennis will be on show at Roland Garros this year.

Nine Australians will feature in the men’s singles main draw at the clay-court Grand Slam, our highest representation since 1999.

This number could still rise too, with three further Australian players remaining in contention in the men’s qualifying singles competition in Paris this week.

World No.11 Alex de Minaur will lead the charge in the Roland Garros 2024 main draw, set to be the highest-seeded Australian man in Paris since Lleyton Hewitt was the top seed in 2003.

Jordan Thompson, who is in career-best form, and Alexei Popyrin, the Roland Garros 2017 boys’ singles champion, are also among the Aussie competitors.

Only host nation France (with 16, including six wildcards) and the USA (with 11, including one wildcard) are likely to have more main-draw competitors in this year’s men’s singles event.

Australia’s notable depth in the men’s game is also evident in the latest ATP Tour singles rankings, with nine Aussie men inside the world’s top 100.

> READ MORE: Australian men close to achieving 42-year rankings first

Strength in numbers in a Grand Slam draw is invaluable according to Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge.

Woodbridge was among the last nine-strong Australian contingent to feature in a Roland Garros men’s singles main draw, also competing alongside Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Pat Rafter, Jason Stoltenberg, Andrew Ilie, Richard Fromberg, Scott Draper and Mark Woodforde in 1999.

“It is so important to have numbers because it just feeds the positivity amongst the group,” Woodbridge noted.

“When you’ve got peers in the draw and you see somebody that you know you’re as good as, or you think you are, and they have a big victory, you think ‘Why can’t I?’.

“It really makes you change the way you look at things and you are dragged along by success. So often at the majors, if the Aussies can get off to a good start on day one and you get a couple of wins, you’ll notice that we get a lot of victories.”

Main-draw action at Roland Garros 2024 begins on Sunday 26 May. It will be broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network and Stan Sport.

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