First US Open Wildcards Announced: Caroline Garcia set for final career Grand Slam appearance

The first wildcards for the US Open have been announced, with Caroline Garcia leading the list, in what will be her final appearance at the tournament. The French Tennis Federation announced the two invitations its country will have, in agreement with the USTA, for the last Grand Slam of the year.

Tennis associations from three of the Grand Slams traditionally have a wildcard reserved for a player from their federation. This is why the French invitees for both the men's and women's draws have been revealed, with the former WTA Finals champion taking center stage as part of her retirement, alongside rising star Valentin Royer on the men's side.

Grand Slam tournaments distribute up to 8 wildcards for each edition, with local players usually receiving the majority of them. In 2024, Alexandre Muller and Chloe Paquet were the chosen ones from France to participate in the tournament.

Garcia announced a few weeks ago that her retirement was approaching, just before competing at Roland Garros – where she ended up falling in the first round of singles against Bernarda Pera. She also played in doubles with Diane Parry, reaching the third round, where they fell to the Russian duo of Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who were subsequent semifinalists of the tournament.

The former world No. 4 – currently at world No. 199 – did not receive a wildcard at Wimbledon, so she has remained off the courts since then. Garcia announced that the end of her career would be during the hardcourt swing, although she didn't specify which tournament. Without other confirmed tournaments in the coming weeks, it remains to be seen if Garcia will still add events to her calendar for the final months of the year.

On the other hand, Valentin Royer is rapidly climbing the rankings and will make his first US Open appearance, after reaching the second round of Wimbledon – defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. The 22-year-old Frenchman has risen to world No. 11 and is on the verge of his top-100 debut.

Caroline Garcia's farewell

The 31-year-old tennis player has battled injuries over the past couple of seasons, keeping her far from the prominence she had in previous years. Back in 2022, she reached the US Open semifinals and won the Cincinnati Open title – her third WTA 1000 after the Wuhan-China Open double in 2017.

However, injuries did not leave Garcia alone during the last couple of years of her career. In 2022, she won the WTA Finals title and ended the year as world No. 4, but in 2026, she experienced a sharp drop in the ranking to No. 20. By 2024, she failed to get past the second round in any Grand Slam and fell out of the top 50 towards the end of the year. Since then, she has only had sporadic appearances on Tour.

The Frenchwoman won a total of 11 singles titles in her career, in addition to falling in 5 other finals. She recorded a total of 26 wins against top-10 players, the most notable against Iga Swiatek at the Warsaw Open 2022, when Swiatek was No. 1. Furthermore, her four wins at the WTA Finals 2022 over top-8 players stand out among her best historical campaigns.

She also had a great doubles career, with 8 titles, winning the French Open in 2016 and 2022, both alongside Kristina Mladenovic, her most frequent doubles partner throughout her career. Garcia announced in early May that she would retire from the courts this year and would only play a handful of extra tournaments, though without giving details about the final stage.

"It’s time to say goodbye," she posted. "After 15 years competing at the highest level, and more than 25 years putting pretty much every second of my life into it, I feel ready to start a new chapter," she wrote. "My tennis journey hasn’t always been easy. Since my early days, tennis has been much more than just winning or losing. It’s been love or hate. Happiness or anger."

"Still, I’m deeply grateful for this journey—for everything tennis has given me, and for how much it’s helped me become a strong, passionate, hard-working woman," the former world No. 4 added. "I just want to focus on living these last weeks as a tennis pro to the fullest. Thank you so much for your support. See you soon on court."