Ben Shelton gets his fourth Roland Garros campaign underway on Monday.
The American will take on 21-year-old Spaniard Daniel Merida Aguilar in his opening match, whom he has never faced before on the ATP Tour.
Shelton recorded his best finish at the French Open last year, advancing to the fourth round before falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
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Ahead of this year’s tournament, he clinched his first clay-court title at ATP 500 level or above by winning the Munich Open, but has since struggled at big events on the surface.
Prior to his first match, Shelton took to the practice courts with British number one Cameron Norrie, and the two played out a ‘crazy’ match.
Cameron Norrie recalls practice session with Ben Shelton in Paris
Asked in his pre-tournament press conference how often he plays five-set practice matches, Norrie said: “Not too often.
“Every time I plan to do that, something’s happened where one guy’s not being able to do it or something happened.
“It was kind of strange because we started at 2pm, and, like, no one was watching and it was pretty serious practice, and every time after the set, we swept the court, we watered it, and then we went again.
“Yeah, I luckily ended up winning the practice in the fifth. He served for the match in the fourth.
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“Yeah, it was a crazy match, but I felt it was, I told him was one of my favourite practises of all time. But it was good fun, good preparation, and good to test the focus, you know, for close to five hours was crazy and he said it was the longest match he’s ever played, so not sure we can count it too much, but it was amazing from him.
“I think, yeah, it was in hindsight, maybe not the best for Geneva and for him for Hamburg, but it was good level.”
Cameron Norrie’s campaign at Roland Garros last year
Like Shelton, Norrie also recorded his best campaign at Roland Garros last year, with the Briton advancing to the fourth round.
Norrie came through a thrilling five-set battle with Daniil Medvedev in round one, handing the Russian an unusual early exit.
He then earned straight-set victories over both Federico Agustin Gomez and compatriot Jacob Fearnley.
But Norrie’s campaign came to an end when faced with Novak Djokovic, who dominated him 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Norrie will take on Adolfo Daniel Vallejo in his opening match at the 2026 French Open.
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