Grigor Dimitrov Returns to Roland Garros Qualifying
Grigor Dimitrov is set to kick off his participation at Roland Garros, starting in the qualifying rounds. This year, the top Bulgarian tennis player will begin his tournament journey from the qualifiers due to his current ranking. At 35 years old, Dimitrov is currently ranked 170th in the world, his lowest ranking in 16 years. His opponent in Paris today will be 117th-ranked Portuguese Jaime Faria, who is ranked 10th in the qualifying draw.
The match is the second on the Suzanne Lenglen court schedule and is set to start at 13:13 local time.
Dimitrov must win three matches to secure a place in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournament in the French capital. Ironically, this is his first time entering the Roland Garros qualifiers, as he entered the main draw directly as the 64th-ranked player in 2011.
The Bulgarian and Portuguese have never faced each other in an official match before.
Dimitrov has only two wins since the beginning of 2026 and is on a six-match losing streak. The last two losses were at the start of Challenger tournaments, where he returned for the first time in 14 years at the end of April.
In contrast, 22-year-old Jaime Faria is in good form. In February, he became one of the sensations of the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he advanced from the qualifiers to the quarterfinals, defeating Nicolas Jarry, Damir Džumhur, and Sebastian Baes. Faria can also boast of two Challenger finals on clay this season—Sao Paulo, Brazil, in March, and Mauthausen, Austria, in April. After qualifying, he entered the main draw of the Madrid Masters 1000 but lost in two sets to Hubert Hurkacz.
Should Dimitrov defeat Jaime Faria, he will face either Colten Smith (190th) or Alvaro Mesa (230th).
Dimitrov's return to the qualifiers after such a long gap is a tough challenge, but can he still pull off a surprise run at Roland Garros? Let's see if he can turn it around!