The second Grand Slam tournament of 2022 is approaching, with the world’s best tennis players gearing up for the French Open.
A total of 32 men’s singles players will be seeded for Roland-Garros.
Here’s who fills those spots…
Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio, ranked 44th in the world at the time, was the last unseeded competitor to win the men’s singles at Roland-Garros, defeating countryman Guillermo Coria in the 2004 French Open.
Gaudio trailed two-sets-to-love before rallying to win in five sets – 0-6 3-6 6-4 6-1 8-6.
Despite his Grand Slam tournament win, Gaudio never made it past the fourth round at any other major, reaching a career-high ranking of five in April 2005.
Seeding is used at most major tennis tournaments to ensure top players don’t face each other in the early rounds.
The first and second seeds of a tournament are placed on opposite ends of the draw so that they can face each other in the final (if they win all their games).
For Grand Slams, 32 players are seeded, determined by current world rankings and player eligibility.
Some tournaments – notably Wimbledon – use a ‘surface-based system’ to alter seeds depending on the player’s history on a particular playing surface.