French Open receives weakest draw in two decades due to World Championship clash
Men's participants have won fewer than 10 Opens between them; smallest women's draw on record
The impact of the IRTPA and IWCC’s decision to host the 2025 Real Tennis World Championships in the week occupied by French Open since the latter permanently moved to Paris over 15 years ago is now evident, following the release of the 2025 French Open draw on Friday. It will be the weakest draw since the 2003 boycott, with the entrants holding a total of fewer than 10 Open singles titles between them for the first time in over two decades, with several up-and-coming players seeing a chance of causing upsets and collecting a few valuable world ranking points in the process.
The World Championships moved from its traditional northern-hemisphere spring date to September with the postponement of the 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never moved back. The 2023 challenge was held the week prior to the French Open, meaning both participants did not travel to France but the timing did still permit their hitting partners to arrive in time for the early rounds. In 2025, there is a direct clash, with the first day on the day of the French Open singles quarter-finals, the second day on the day of the singles semi-finals, and the third day — if required — on the same day as the French Open singles final. The six-hour time difference between Paris and Newport should prevent most direct counter-programming, but any overrun to the schedule in Paris will mean both events running in direct competition for streaming attention.
Nick Howell, the champion from 2023 and finalist from 2024, enters the French Open as the first seed for the first time in his career. He joins second seed Steve Virgona as the only two players in the mens draw who have previously won an Open. Virgona goes to Paris searching for a win that would complete a career Grand Slam, 20 years after his first Open title. Howell beat Virgona in Paris in a tough 2023 final and five-set 2024 semi m-final, while Virgona got the better of their 2018 contest in a come-from-behind five-set victory. All signs point to another exciting contest in 2025, should both win through their respective sides of the draw — a strong possibility given that neither have lost a match to any other player in the draw in any competition. The two will also pair up to be strong favourites in the doubles draw.
With Robert Fahey expected to be away in Newport and Ben Taylor-Matthews settling into his role at Newport, Leon Smart and Robert Shenkman enter as the third and fourth seeds respectively. Shenkman is seeded to play Howell in the top half semi-final. Shenkman will need to improve his counter-attack against a highly aggressive Howell if he is to have a hope of reaching a maiden Open final.
Smart is seeded to play Virgona in their semi-final — potentially their first match-up for over three years. Smart’s form remains a mystery given his ongoing trouble with his shoulder injury that plagued his recent Champions Trophy campaign. He will face a difficult path through the draw, with Levi Gale and Lewis Williams as likely opponents who would see Smart as within striking distance. Shenkman and Smart will join forces in the doubles — beginning a season playing together.
Outside of the top seeds, there will be plenty of matches that provide strong chances for upsets. Levi Gale returns to Paris to play his first Open for 12 months to face Smart in the first round in a match which he would fancy himself to win, having gone to five sets in their only previous meeting in the same fixture two years ago. Lewis Williams will play the highest ranked French player in the draw, Nicolas Victoir, in his first round match where home court advantage could be a strong factor, with another high-stakes round to follow against the winner of Gale and Smart. Williams and Gale enter the doubles together again, looking to improve upon their first round loss from 2024.
In the top half of the draw, rising British amateur Bertie Vallat will challenge Shenkman in the first round, having played three times in the previous season with increasingly tightening scorelines. Darren Long will face off against Max Trueman in the latter’s first international competition since his move to Tuxedo two years ago, making him somewhat of an unknown quantity compared to his competition. Meanwhile, Louis Gordon will play Vaughan Hamilton in a clash of styles, their only previous meeting occuring at this year’s Champions Trophy qualifying.
Will Flynn will make his French Open debut with a difficult assignment against first seed Howell, while Benedict Yorston’s debut will be against one of the two qualifiers. Henry Henman — who was within a game of reaching the quarter-finals last year — will have to play through qualifying in 2025 to earn his place in the main draw. He will face either Nick Jamieson or Clément Depreeuw, both of whom will play Open qualifying for the first time. The other qualifying pathway will see Jack Josephs play either Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt or Paul Bollerman, the latter becoming the first Dutch male to play in an Open singles qualfying match having played the doubles qualifying of the British Open last season.
The women’s draw will also be the smallest on record, with just three players in the singles event and two pairs in the doubles. The higher number of amateurs in the elite women’s game coupled with the increased travel demands of the new World Championship format and the introduction of the Ladies Bathurst Cup now proving a greater squeeze on player availability. Claire Fahey will receive a bye to the finals of both competitions, alongside Jess Garside as her partner in the doubles, the latter now on track to win her first Open title. The recently crowned U19’s World Champion, Katherine Carney will play Garside in the only semi-final of the singles, while the World Champion duo of Carney and Lydia Compton-Burnett will play in the doubles final. The most notable absence is that of Lea Van Der Zwalmen, who will miss her first French Open since 2019.
Further information is available via the website of the French Open. Streaming will be available via the Real Tennis France YouTube channel. Match timings are yet to be confirmed.
French Open Draw:
Men’s Singles Qualfiying (19 September):
9:00 AM: Nick Jamieson vs Clément Depreeuw
10:30 AM: Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt vs Paul Bollerman
4:00 PM (Qualifier 1): Henry Henman vs winner of Jamieson & Depreeuw
5:30 PM (Qualifier 2): Jack Josephs vs winner of Huynh-Lenhardt & Bollerman
Men’s Singles:
Round of 16 (21-22 September)
Nick Howell (1) vs Will Flynn
Vaughan Hamilton vs Louis Gordon
Darren Long (6) vs Max Trueman
Bertie Vallat vs Robert Shenkman (4)
Leon Smart (3) vs Levi Gale
Nicolas Victoir vs Lewis Williams (5)
Benedict Yorston vs Qualifier 1
Qualifier 2 vs Steve Virgona (2)
Quarter-finals (23 September)
Howell OR Flynn vs Hamilton OR Gordon
Long OR Trueman vs Vallat OR Shenkman
Smart OR Gale vs Victoir OR Williams
Yorston OR Qualifier vs Qualifier OR Virgona
Semi-finals (25 September)
Final (27 September)
Women’s Singles:
Semi-finals (date TBC)
Katherine Carney vs Jess Garside
Final (27 September)
Claire Fahey (1) vs Carney OR Garside
Men’s Doubles:
Quarter-finals (24 September)
Henry Henman & Will Flynn vs Vaughan Hamilton & Bertie Vallat
Jack Josephs & Benedict Yorston vs Lewis Williams & Levi Gale
Max Trueman & Louis Gordon vs Robert Shenkman & Leon Smart (2)
Semi-finals (26 September)
Nick Howell & Steve Virgona (1) vs Henman/Flynn OR Hamilton/Vallat
Josephs/Yorston OR Williams/Gale vs Trueman/Gordon OR Shenkman/Smart
Final (28 September)
Women’s Doubles:
Final (28 September)
Claire Fahey & Jess Garside vs Lydia Compton-Burnett & Katherine Carney