Argentina’s Solana Sierra is set to compete for her first main draw match-win at a Grand Slam after advancing through the Roland Garros qualifying rounds. Previously, Sierra lost her only Grand Slam main draw match against Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the first round of the 2024 US Open. At Roland Garros, she secured her spot by defeating Wang Xiyu and will face Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Sierra has followed the ITF player pathway, reaching No. 12 in the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Rankings and making it to the semi-finals of the US Open Junior Championships in September 2022. During this period, she was part of the ITF/Grand Slam Player Development Programme (GSPDP) Touring Team, which supports players from developing tennis nations. She has received $75,000 in financial assistance through GSPDP.
At 20 years old, Sierra competes regularly for Argentina in the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge and was a notable performer on last season’s ITF World Tennis Tour with six singles titles. Recently, she won her first WTA event at Antalya 125.
In other developments, Lebanon will have representation in a second consecutive Grand Slam as Benjamin Hassan made it through qualifying rounds. The 30-year-old defeated Japan’s James Kent Trotter to enter the main draw at Roland Garros. This follows Hady Habib’s participation in the Australian Open earlier this year. Habib and Hassan are notable as they are the first Lebanese players to compete at Grand Slams during the Open Era.
Roland Garros seems to bring out Hassan’s best performances; he became the first Lebanese player to win an Olympic tennis match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event held at Roland Garros.