Adam Walton awarded wildcard into Rolland Garros, French Open tennis grand slam

A rising North Queensland tennis star has been awarded a wildcard into the main draw of a major Grand Slam. See who he’ll be up against.

Adam Walton of Australia returns a shot to Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada during his men's singles match during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 21, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Megan Briggs/Getty Images/AFP

Home Hill export Adam Walton has been awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the French Open.

Alongside fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic, Walton will play in the main draw of the Roland Garros Grand Slam, kicking off May 26.

The 25-year-old North Queenslander is currently ranked 111th in the world and made his Grand Slam debut at this year’s Australian Open, going down to Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the opening round.

Just weeks prior, Walton qualified at an ATP tournament for the first time, beating two top-100 players to earn a spot in Adelaide’s main draw.

Walton has been recognised for his meteoric improvement, notching up 32 match wins and improving his ranking by 60 points since the start of the year.

Adam Walton of Australia plays the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 21, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The rising star and winner of 14 of his past 18 matches told Tennis Australia he couldn’t wait to compete at Roland Garros for the first time.

“This will be my first time at Roland Garros and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity to play main draw,” Walton said.

The former Home Hill Tennis Association junior bolsters the number of Aussies in the men’s singles main draw to nine, joining Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, Rinky Hijikata, Max Purcell, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Chris O’Connell and Aleksandar Vukic.

“Go Adam! We’ll be cheering for you,” Walton’s former junior club posted to social media.

The Roland Garros 2024 qualifying competition begins on May 20, with main draw action kicking off May 26.

Another 13 Aussies (five men and eight women) will appear in the qualifiers, where they need to win three matches to enter the main draw.

Originally published as Adam Walton awarded wildcard into Rolland Garros, French Open tennis grand slam