Daria Saville will contest her 35th Grand Slam, and a ninth at Roland Garros, after a comeback victory over Taylor Townsend in the final round of qualifying.
Paris, France , 24 May 2025 | Vivienne Christie
Daria Saville has boosted an already strong Australian contingent at Roland Garros to 16 main-draw representatives, after a spirited victory over Taylor Townsend in the final round of qualifying.
The 31-year-old Australian battled against the sixth-seeded Townsend for an intense two hours and 36 minutes, before at least emerging with a 2-6 6-2 6-4 win.
Utilising all her defensive skills, Saville withstood 43 winners from the hard-hitting American, while registering 32 of her own.
It sees world No.134 Saville, at age 31, advance to the 35th Grand Slam main draw of her career. She made her Grand Slam debut at Australian Open 2013, where she also earned entry as a qualifier.
In earlier qualifying rounds, Saville claimed straight-sets victories over experienced campaigner Heather Watson and dangerous French teenager Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard.
Saville joins fellow Australians Daria Kasatkina, Maja Joint, Kimberly Birrell, Ajla Tomljanovic Olivia Gadecki and Destanee Aiava in the Roland Garros 2025 women’s draw.
> RELATED: Draws set for Australian stars at Roland Garros 2025
There are nine Australian men contesting the Roland Garros singles event, led by world No.9 Alexei Popyrin and fellow top-40 members Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.
It will be a ninth Roland Garros campaign for the determined Saville, who achieved her best results on Parisian clay in reaching the 2018 and 2022 third rounds.
She faces No.7 seed Madison Keys, the Australian Open 2025 women’s champion, in the first round.
It adds to a positive week for Australian women’s tennis after Maya Joint continued her remarkable 2025 rise by advancing to a first WTA-level final in Rabat.
One of only two teenagers in the WTA’s top 100, Joint defeated fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic to set her new career milestone, which sees her on the verge of entering the world’s top 50.
> READ: Joint wins all Aussie-battle to reach first WTA final in Rabat.
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