Amanda Anisimova is set to return to match play at Roland-Garros 2026, where the world No. 6 is scheduled to meet Sarah Rakotomanga in the first round after a wrist injury in March kept her off court for months.
Anisimova first hurt her wrist at the Miami Open and had not been seen in competition since, even as she increased the intensity of her training and practice to get ready for Paris. For a player ranked No. 6 and already a semifinalist at Roland-Garros in 2019, the opener offers an immediate test of whether the injury has left any limits in place.
The matchup also puts Anisimova across the net from one of the tour’s faster risers. Rakotomanga made her WTA Tour debut last year, opened the season at No. 349 and finished it with the Sao Paulo title and a No. 123 ranking. She is now No. 153, plays under the French flag and trains in Toulouse after growing up in Madagascar.
At 20, Rakotomanga has built her game on patience and the clay, and she says the surface suits her because it gives her space to work. “Rafa, I really like his spirit and his attitude on court,” she said. “That’s something I’ve tried to take from him.” She added that she also likes Federer’s game and wanted her own style to combine “the class of Federer and the attitude of Nadal.”
That makes the first round more than a simple ranking mismatch. Anisimova arrives with a bigger record, including runner-up finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, but she has not played a match since the Miami Open injury. Rakotomanga, meanwhile, comes in with momentum, a recent title and clay-court comfort that could matter if Anisimova is still searching for full confidence in the wrist.
Rakotomanga put it plainly: on clay, “I have time,” she said. “That’s it. I have time to put my game into place.” Whether Anisimova has enough of that same time, and enough physical freedom to use it, will shape one of the opening days’ most watched matches.
