Former Washington Huskies men’s tennis player Clement Chidekh qualified and competed in the 2026 Roland-Garros, the French Open, marking his first appearance at the tournament since turning professional, according to a May 29 announcement. Chidekh, class of 2022, currently holds an ATP World ranking of 177th in singles and 213th in doubles.
In his debut match on May 19, Chidekh faced Austria’s Joel Schwaer in the first qualifying round of singles. The match lasted an hour and a half. Chidekh lost the first set 6-1 but rallied in the second before ultimately dropping the match with a score of 7-5.
Chidekh also made his debut at Roland-Garros in doubles competition. Teaming up with fellow French player Valentin Royer, who is ranked No. 74 in ATP World Singles, they lost their first-round Main Doubles Draw match on May 26 to Bellucci/Marozsan with scores of 7-6(3), 6-4. The match lasted one hour and forty minutes. After taking a lead early in the first set, Bellucci/Marozsan came back to tie before winning both sets by saving key points, including a tiebreaker, and finishing with aces during critical rallies.
Despite these losses at this Grand Slam event, Chidekh’s overall season has been positive. He captured two ATP Challenger Finals titles by winning back-to-back tournaments in Nottingham and Glasgow earlier this year. Additional performances include reaching the quarter-finals at an ATP Challenger event in Wuning, China during April and making it to the semi-finals at Saint Brieuc, France this February.
Chidekh will look to build on these results as he prepares for Wimbledon next month.
