Six weeks before a Grand Slam tournament is the time dreaded by those players ranked around the cut-off line for direct acceptance into the main draw.
That’s when the direct entry singles cut-offs are set…
This year, the Australian Open Men’s cut-off ranking was world No. 101 and the Women’s was No. 103.
At Roland-Garros, the Men’s cutoff was No. 103 and the Women’s was No. 101.
The Championships cutoffs were the same as those at Roland-Garros for both the Men and Women.
The US Open made it a trifecta of a No. 103 ranking requirement for Men, while the Women’s direct entry was No. 102.
Players without the required pre-Slam rankings can hope for a wildcard, which depending on the Grand Slam, are issued two to four weeks before the event begins…
For everyone else, it’s the qualifying event. Beginning with 128 player draws for both Men and Women, players must win three matches to earn one of the available 16 main draw spots.
Country Count Leaders…
The Australian Open began the Grand Slam “Qualies” season, and two of 13 Australian Men were successful, Dane Sweeny and Jason Kubler, along with four US Men. The Czech Republic was the Women’s country leader with three. China and Ukraine each had two and there was one Neutral (players not representing their nations).
Yuliia Starodubtseva, who set a record qualifying at all the Majors in 2024, qualified again at the 2026 Australian Open.
Roland-Garros proved to be “Terre Battue” true for three Frenchmen and Italians, along with two Spaniards and one Neutral. Curiously, four US women played their way into the main draw, as did a Neutral.
At The Championships, three from Great Britain and from the US became Gentlemen’s competitors, as well as one Neutral. On the Ladies’ side, four Neutrals and two from the US were successful.
At the US Open, Great Britain and Italy each had two Men play through the Qualies. Three US Women and two from Great Britain, along with two Neutrals, did the same.
During the year, across all the Slams, 64 men and 64 women qualified and some had interesting sidebar stories…
Michael Zheng, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Singles winner in 2024 and ’25, triple qualified at Slams this year – at the Australia Open, Roland-Garros and The Championships – while undertaking a psychology degree at Columbia University. He received a wild card into the main draw of the US Open and was defeated by Arthur Géa in the third round.
Doubled…
Nishesh Basavareddy achieved “Beginning and End” qualifyings at the Australian and US Opens.
Claire Liu back-to-backed The Championships and Roland-Garros. Robin Montgomery followed the script, surviving at The Championships and US Open. Sloane Stephens did the same; thriving at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros.
Aging Well…
Many readers will painfully remember Grigor Dimitrov leading 6–3, 7–5 against Jannik Sinner in a fourth round match at The Championships in 2025. Serving at 2-2 in the third set, he dropped to the court after tearing his right pectoral muscle. The retirement was his fifth consecutive mid-match withdrawal at a Major.
Losing in the first round of this year’s Australian Open had forced him to qualify at Roland-Garros, where he lost in the first round to Jaime Faria, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. The loss marked the first time in 16 years Dimitrov wasn’t a Paris competitor. But, more startlingly, the 2011 Australian Open was the last time he had previously played the Qualies.
Given a wildcard at The Championships, he made it to the fourth round before losing Arthur Fery of Great Britain in a fifth set tiebreak.
The now 35-year-old Dimitrov, who was a US Open semifinalist in 2019 and a quarterfinalist 2024, didn’t receive a wildcard to New York this year. So he qualified to play the tournament for a 15th time.
Arantxa Rus will turn 36 in December. Before qualifying in New York this year, the last Major she played was in 2025 at The Championships. Prior to New York, her 2026 qualifying results were disappointing; having failed to secure a main draw spot in London, Paris and Melbourne.
But Rus – who had been the Australian Open Junior Girls’ winner in 2008 – earned her 10th US Open main draw spot.
Kristina Liutova turned ten in February 2019. At the US Open, the 16-year-old “age-matched” her Russian countrywoman Mirra Andreeva, who qualified for 2023 Roland-Garros.
For the past six years Liutova has lived and trained at the celebrated Gorin Tennis Academy in Redmond, Washington. Founded by Vitaly Gorin in 1995 in Northern California, the Academy garnered early acclaim due to the success of Dmitry Tursunov. Later, Igor Kunitsyn, Yaroslava Shvedova and Nikoloz Basilashvili spent time at the location as Juniors.
After Liutova won the WTA 250 Memphis Classic in early August, it was apparent that she is establishing her own Gorin Tennis Academy standard.
Where?…
North Macedonia didn’t have a publicized tennis tradition until this year when Lina Gjorcheska qualified at The Championships. She made her Grand Slam debut at the age of 31 – the same age as Stéphane Robert of France when he qualified at Roland-Garros in 2011.
Gjorcheska comes from Tetovo, a town of 50,344 and Robert hails from Montargis, which has a population of around 18,000.
In his career Robert played all the Majors and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2014. Prior to The Championships, Gjorcheska’s best showing, in her first Grand Slam appearance at any level, was the third round of the Australian Open Qualifying in 2017.
Captivating Names…
A few from the Qualies included Guiomar Maristany, who qualified at the Australian Open; Himeno Sakatsume, who qualified at the US and Australian Opens; Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who qualified at The Championships, and Yuan Yue, who qualified at the Australian Open.
Qualifying History…
Memories at the US Open include a trio of quarter finalists – Nicolas Escudé in 1999, Gilles Müller in 2008 and Botic van de Zandschulp in 2021.
After qualifying in his first appearance at Wimbledon, John McEnroe previewed what was to come by reaching the Gentlemen’s semifinals at The Championships in 1977. Vladimir Voltchkov did the same in 2000. In 1999, Alexandra Stevenson, who was never shy about creating attention, surpassed fellow qualifiers Kim Clijsters, Jelena Dokic and Nadia Petrova by becoming a Ladies’ semifinalist.
Qualifier Filip Dewulf was a Roland-Garros semifinalist in 1997.
Bob Giltinan was an Australian Open semifinalist in 1977, and Aslan Karatsev was similarly successful in 2021, as were Christine Matison in 1978 and Dayana Yastremska in 2024.
Most Memorable Qualifiers…
Few will forget Emma Raducanu’s magical, mystical performance at the 2021 US Open…
Born in Toronto to a Romanian father and Chinese mother, the family moved to Great Britain when she was two. Growing up, she visited her grandmothers in Romania and China, and speaks Romanian and Mandarin along with English. Two-time Grand Slam champion Li Na of China was one of her favorite players.
As a wildcard, she made her Grand Slam debut at The Championships in 2021 but breathing issues forced her to withdraw in the fourth round of the Ladies Singles trailing Ajla Tomljanović 6-4, 3-0.
In August, before qualifying for and winning the US Open, the then 18-year-old learned she had passed her A Levels in Maths and Economics.
Her progress through the draw in New York was enthralling as she charmed the public with her captivating grin and confident performance. She did not lose a set in her ten matches.
In the final, she defeated unseeded Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first woman from Great Britain to secure a Major title since Virginia Wade won the Ladies’ crown at The Championships in 1977. Continuing The Championships focus… Raducanu was the youngest Grand Slam winner since 17-year-old Maria Sharapova triumphed in 2004. Adding to her stature, she was the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
Though Mirra Andreeva was the 2026 Roland-Garros champion, the 24-year-old qualifier Maja Chwalińska and ultimately Women’s finalist, was “etonnant”
She had made her first Grand Slam appearance at The Championships in 2022, and played the 2025 Australian Open, losing in the first round in both instances.
Prior to the Australian Open in 2025, she had lost 11 times playing the Qualies and this year in Melbourne, she lost in the final qualifying round.
After being defeated in the first round of The Championships qualifying in 2021, ranked No. 229 and having contended with depression for two years, Chwalińska decided to take a break. She told the WTA, “Something I enjoyed the most suddenly became a source of suffering. I associated tennis with pressure, stress and crying.”
She added, “I didn’t know that I would come back, to be honest, because things were not fine. There were dark thoughts. It was tough to even leave the house. I didn’t have any desire for anything.”
Chwalińska returned to her parents’ home and began working with a mental health specialist. Her sabbatical lasted until October 2021 when she returned to competition playing the lower level ITF tournaments, but remained ranked in the WTA 100s.
Before Paris this year, she was No. 112 and didn’t have a clothing sponsor.
Compared to Raducanu and Iga Świątek, both of whom seem to be taller than their listed 5’9”, Chwalińska is a diminutive 5’5”. But at Stade Roland-Garros, the lefthander put on a clinic crafting points with chess master skill – changing angles, spinning and driving shots. Occasionally, she softened a response to her opponent’s drive then sneaked to the net and hit a delectable point-winning drop shot. All the while, her opponents were forced to adapt to tactics they had rarely seen.
Chwalińska’s play showcased her “magic feet”, abetted by her silky movement. (Roger Federer is her favorite player.)
She captivated the Paris fans and said of their support, “I feel like tennis is more enjoyable (when) you can share emotions with people. You can see their reactions. So, I always enjoyed when there were people watching.
“I was surprised (by the crowd). It was a great moment for me. I really appreciate it… I definitely feel the crowd helped me a lot and gave me a lot of energy.”
Her point playing approach resulted from her passion, as she admitted, “I love watching tennis. When I was younger, I watched tennis all day, every day. So, I feel like it really helps me with reading the game better.”
Before the final she told the media, “…I feel like I’m in a bubble, I’d say. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just very happy to be here. I just try to focus on every single match, give my all, and then after the tournament, there will be time to kind of process it and breathe in, breathe out.”
Nightly, Chwalińska drank tea before going to sleep while her team of Jaroslav Machovský, Petr Hájek and Maciej Ryszczuk followed its own ritual and became pizza connoisseurs.
Before the Qualies began, she told Machovský she was looking forward to taking a “vacances” and after Roland-Garros it was well deserved…
Lucky Losers…
Fortune can smile on some who lose…
Should a player withdraw from a tournament’s main draw, a spot opens to the highest-ranked player who lost in a qualifying final.
At the Australian Open, Men’s Lucky Losers were Alexander Blockx, Mackenzie McDonald and Dino Prižmić. Taylor Townsend claimed the lone Women’s opportunity.
Then at Roland-Garros, Vilius Gaubas, Jesper de Jong and Coleman Wong were the Men’s Roland-Garros Lucky Losers.
Solana Sierra was “Éblouissant” in Paris, becoming the year’s most successful female Lucky Loser by downing Raducanu, then surprising Jasmine Paolini, before Sorana Cirstea ended her tournament stay.
For The Championships, the two Gentlemen’s Lucky Losers were Dušan Lajović and Pablo Llamas Ruiz. Darja Semeņistaja was the only Lucky Loser for the Ladies’ event and replaced Raducanu.
Although no Lucky Losers were needed for the US Open Women’s main draw, the Men’s total topped the Lucky Loser count for the year. Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Géa, Shintaro Mochizuki and Otto Virtanen gained entry. Fearnley made the second round and Géa made it all the way to the fourth round after replacing Casper Rudd.
In the Round 4 match between Géa and Botic van de Zandschulp, Géa held a match point but was unable to win the 5 hour, 13 minute battle.
Still, Géa became only the second Lucky Loser in the Open Era to make the Round of 16 in the men’s singles of a Slam. The first was fellow Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
Title image by Baike Baidu / Vanessa Taylor