Qualifying: the right to dream bigger
We know the identities of the final seven players whom earned their spot in the main draw of the 2026 edition.
A first taste of the big stage in Paris
Among the successful qualifiers, two had never previously tried their luck in Paris. Rinky Hijikata made the perfect start to his campaign with an impressive second-round victory over Vit Kopriva (No.11). After seeing a 3-0 lead wiped out at 4-4 in the opening set, the Australian held firm in the tie-break before taking control of the second with two early breaks (7-6(5), 6-2 in 1 hour and 32 minutes).
Juan Manuel Cerundolo (No.5), meanwhile, had to dig deep to overcome Miomir Kecmanovic (No.8) after 2 hours and 33 minutes (6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(6)). The Argentine remains unbeaten against his opponent, following two previous wins on the main tour in 2021 and 2026, both on clay.
Earlier in the afternoon, Mattia Bellucci (No.13) became the first player to secure the precious qualifying ticket to the next stage of the Rolex Paris Masters. In complete control against Thiago Agustin Tirante (No.3), the Italian never dropped serve, saving every break point he faced while converting both of his own opportunities (6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour and 25 minutes).
After falling short on his first appearance at the Plenitude Arena in 2025, when he was eliminated in the opening round of qualifying, Bellucci is now set to make his debut in the main draw of the season’s final Masters 1000.
Familiar faces deliver again
Meanwhile, Tomas Machac got the better of No.1 seed Sebastian Baez. He sealed a perfectly controlled performance with an ace, without facing a single break point throughout the match (6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 23 minutes). Having already led the Argentine 2-0 in their head-to-head, Machac maintained his unbeaten record against him and will compete in the Paris main draw for the third consecutive year, following appearances in 2024 and 2025.
Another familiar face at the Paris Masters 1000, Lorenzo Sonego, was pushed hard by Adolfo Daniel Vallejo (No.6) before prevailing in the deciding-set tie-break (6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) in 2 hours and 21 minutes). As in 2022 and 2024, the Italian has successfully come through qualifying and will continue his campaign at the Plenitude Arena.
The last Frenchman still in contention, Benjamin Bonzi, came through qualifying in Paris for the first time in his career thanks to a convincing victory over Yannick Hanfmann (7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in 1 hour and 53 minutes). Roared on by a strong home crowd, the French wildcard returns to the Rolex Paris Masters main draw, as in 2020 and 2023, helped in particular by an impressive serving performance featuring 16 aces and 82% of points won behind his first serve.
As for Alex Molcan, he had not competed at the tournament since 2022, when he faced Richard Gasquet in the first round. After falling an early break behind against Nuno Borges (No.4), the Slovak fought back before taking the opening set in a tie-break on his first set point. Playing more aggressively, he quickly moved ahead in the second set before wrapping up victory in 1 hour and 26 minutes (7-6(5), 6-2).