The 2026 French Open is guaranteed to see at least one male player ranked outside the world's top 100 players feature in the semi-finals.
World number 104 Matteo Arnaldi will take on compatriot and world number 105 Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-finals of this year's clay-court Grand Slam.
The draw has been blown wide open following Jannik Sinner's elimination in the second round, and Novak Djokovic's exit to prodigious Brazilian Joao Fonseca means we're guaranteed to see a first-time Grand Slam winner at this year's French Open.
Berrettini has endured several agonising near-misses, having reached the Wimbledon final in 2021. The 30-year-old, who has been plagued by fitness and injury issues in recent years, is the lowest-ranked Roland Garros quarter-finalist since Igor Andreev in 2007.
As Arnaldi and Berrettini plot to make history, we take a look at the players they could emulate if they're triumphant in the French capital this week.
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten was ranked 66th in the world when he embarked on a remarkable run to French Open glory in 1997, where he beat three former champions to secure a maiden Grand Slam title.
Losing in the first round on his tournament debut the year prior, Kuerten breezed past Ctislav Doseděl in the first round and dispatched Jonas Björkman in four sets in the second round to setup a clash with fifth seed Thomas Muster.
The Brazilian prevailed in a five-set thriller over Muster and was forced to go the distance again in the fourth round against Andrei Medvedev.
Kuerten had one more five-set contest up his sleeve in a gruelling comeback win over third seed and defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, where he trailed by two sets to one before bagelling the Russian in the fourth set and claiming the final set 6-4.
Kuerten encoutered qualifier Filip Dewulf in the semi-finals and was triumphant in four sets before producing his best performance of the tournament in the final against Sergi Bruguera, dropping just nine games in a straight sets win.
His first Grand Slam success, Kuerten would endure a miserable defence of his French Open title as he crashed out in the second round in 1998, but he would triumph on two more occasions at Roland Garros in 2000 and 2001 - only Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg have achieved more men's French Open titles than Kuerten in the Open Era.
Gaston Gaudio
The early 2000s were a fantastic opportunity for players to seize their first Grand Slam title before Rafael Nadal arrived in 2005 and exerted his dominance.
Gaston Gaudio was the last French Open winner before Nadal's supremacy, and his triumph was one of the most surprising Grand Slam successes in the 21st century.
Ranked 44th in the world, Gaudio had never surpassed the fourth round stage at any Grand Slam in 20 attempts before his phenomenal run to the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
Gaudio went five sets in the first round against compatriot Guillermo Canas before he was taken to a deciding set again in the second round opposing 14th seed Jiri Novak.
The Argentine saw off Thomas Enqvist in the third round and subsequently toppled Igor Andreev in straight sets to reach the second week of Roland Garros for the first time in his career.
By this point Gaudio was producing the best tennis of his career and he easily dispatched of Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets in the quarter-finals before convinvingly beating David Nalbandian in three to reach the Roland Garros showpiece.
Another Argentine in third seed Guillermo Coria awaited him, and defeat seemed inevitable as Gaudio trailed by two sets and needed to save three break points at 4-4 in the third.
But Gaudio produced one of the greatest comebacks in French Open history. Claiming the third and fourth set, Gaudio faced two championship points but saved them both to win the final set 8-6.
Gaudio became the fourth male players after Björn Borg in 1974, Ivan Lendl in 1984, and Andre Agassi in 1999 to win the French Open from two sets down in the final.
Albert Costa
Two years before Gaudio's iconic triumph, Albert Costa also became a first-time winner of the French Open as the world number 22 went all the way at Roland Garros in 2002.
In his previous eight years, Costa had only advanced as far as the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam and was eliminated in the first round of the French Open the year prior.
Costa's passage to the latter rounds was not fraught with drama like Kuerten's and Gaudio's, with the Spaniard defeating Richard Gasquet in four sets before toppling Nikolay Davydenko, Andrea Gaudenzi and Kuerten in straight sets.
He was then forced to come from two sets to one down against Guillermo Cañas to prevail in the quarter-final, and against compatriot Àlex Corretja he triumphed in four sets to setup an all-Spanish final against Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Costa claimed a commanding two-set lead in the showpiece and despite Ferrero battling back to claim the third set, Costa reasserted his authority to achieve his one and only Grand Slam title.
