He was the first American man to ever win the French Open and ended up being champion at every Grand Slam

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The French Open has arrived, with the long list of clay court tournaments having been leading up to the Grand Slam.

Carlos Alcaraz has been tipped to win the French Open on the men’s side, having just triumphed at the Italian Open.

Alcaraz beat ATP Tour number one Jannik Sinner in the final, securing his third title of 2025 and second on clay.

There was, however, a home winner at the WTA 1000 event, with Jasmine Paolini lifting the singles and indeed doubles titles.

Paolini was full of praise for Coco Gauff despite winning their Italian Open final, which represents her first title of 2025.

Don Budge breaks trend to become first American man to win French Open

They will all quickly turn their attentions to the French Open main draw, with qualifying already underway at Roland Garros.

And all will be eager to replicate Don Budge, who triumphed at the French Open in 1938, when it was known as the French Championships.

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His title was, however, very special, with Budge becoming the first American man to win the French Open.

A handful of British and German players had lifted the trophy by that stage, but it was very much dominated by French players on home soil.

Budge came up against Czech-German Roderich Menzel in France in 1938, winning their battle 6–3, 6–2, 6–4.

Don Budge one of eight men’s career Grand Slam winners

Budge’s superb success certainly did not end there, with the American hugely impressively going on to complete the career Grand Slam.

He is one of eight men to achieve the feat of winning the four Grand Slams of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

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Also a very accomplished doubles player, Budge ended his phenomenal career with a fantastic six Grand Slam titles.

That is level with the likes of fellow legends Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, with the American boasting two titles at Wimbledon, two at the US Open, one at the Australian Open and one at the French Open.

Remarkably, he won all four events in the same year in 1938, with Rod Laver the only other man to achieve the calendar Grand Slam.

The Australian did that on two occasions, with both players among that exclusive group of career Grand Slam winners.