At 45, Venus Williams is heading back to Roland Garros. The 14-time Grand Slam doubles champion will team up with Hailey Baptiste in the doubles draw, entering directly on their combined rankings without needing a wildcard. It will also mark Venus’ first appearance in the main draw in Paris since 2021, when she partnered with Coco Gauff and exited in the opening round. 

The confirmation is somewhat significant in light of the fact that Venus has been limited in her clay court appearances over the past few years. Her appearance at the Madrid Open last month was her first clay court tournament since that year’s French Open, five years ago. She was defeated in the first round by 20-year-old Kaitlin Quevedo, but the demeanor she displayed after the game was a good sign of her state of mind. 

“Yeah, I mean, to get my feet dirty, this was a great start. I’m not able to play Rome, I have other commitments, unfortunately, so I’m really super sad about that, actually. My husband is Italian, so we feel sad that we can’t be there. So we would love to keep it going on the clay,” she said after the match. 

Those other commitments were the Met Gala, where Venus served as a co-chair, a commitment that took precedence over the Italian Open. Even after skipping Rome, she has continued to stay on her wish to play in clay, and the Roland Garros doubles entry with a fellow American makes that true. 

The duo is anything but an afterthought. Baptiste has been the one to stand out this year in the women’s clay swing, defeating world No. 1 Sabalenka in Madrid’s semifinals and advancing to the third round in Rome. Her form alongside Venus’ doubles pedigree and court sense makes them a credible combination. Venus already knows what it means to lift the doubles trophy in Paris, having won it alongside Serena in 1999 and 2010, two of their 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together. 

She was not on the list of wild cards on the singles side. Venus will not play singles unless she gets a late entry. A mixed doubles wildcard also remains possible. The singles omission comes as a surprise, as she had previously expressed her wish to play in Paris this season and had been given wildcard spots at the Australian Open, Miami Open, and Madrid earlier this year. 

Her best singles performance at Roland Garros was the 2002 final, which she lost to Serena; she has a 48-24 singles record overall at the tournament, with her last singles win coming in 2017. If the wildcard doesn’t happen, she is expected to be part of TNT Sports’ commentary team for the tournament, featuring prominently from the quarterfinal stage onward.

Meanwhile, two veterans on the men’s side, who were in contention for getting a wildcard alongside Venus, have received an entry at the French Open 2026. 

Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils earn farewell berths at Roland Garros

Two of the most emotionally-charged entries of the tournament have been confirmed in the French Open wildcard draw. Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils, both playing farewell seasons on tour, were awarded main draw wildcards, allowing tennis fans to see two giants of the game walk onto the Roland Garros clay one final time. 

Wawrinka’s presence is very significant at a tournament where he engineered one of the iconic Grand Slam upsets. In the final of 2015, he defeated a peak Novak Djokovic to win the Grand Slam, one of three Grand Slam victories across a remarkable career. He has come into Paris as No. 125, but his competitive fire is intact, even if his ranking is not. 

The former world No. 6 and 2008 French Open semifinalist Monfils is ranked No. 222. He was expected to be given a wildcard, and the response he will get from the Parisian fans at his matches will be an interesting spectacle in itself. His charisma and fighting spirit have made him one of the most beloved players of his generation in France, and Roland Garros has always been his stage. 

David Goffin was not on the list of wild cards, as he announced 2026 as his final season, too. The Belgian veteran, currently ranked No. 249, was awarded a qualifying spot instead of a main draw entry, which will have stung given the occasion. During his time among the sport’s elite, he hit a career-best world ranking of No. 7 and advanced to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the Australian Open. 

For the women’s side, barring Venus Williams, the wildcards were mostly French players, with the most interesting name being 17-year-old Ksenia Efremova. The Australian Open junior girls champion and current ITF junior world No. 1 will be among those to look out for in Paris.