Vietnamese-American tennis pro advances in French Open qualifiers

The 26-year-old, who is 218th in the ATP world ranking, moved on to the next round of the qualifiers after beating French player Constant Lestienne (223rd) in only 75 minutes.

Although playing on clay is not Kwiatkowski's forte, he still boasted an impressive performance. In the first set, Kwiatkowski easily won 6-2 and repeated the score in the second to claim the overall 2-0 victory.

This is the first time Kwiatkowski made it into the second qualification round of a Grand Slam tournament on clay. His next opponent will be Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo. This is considered a tough challenge for Kwiatkowski since the Argentine is 116th in the world and the eighth-seeded player at the tournament.

2021 French Open or Roland Garros is an upcoming Grand Slam tennis tournament to be played on outdoor clay courts. It is set to take place at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France between May 30 and June 13. The qualifiers will be held from May 24 to 28. Spaniard Rafael Nadal is the defending champion in the men’s singles while Poland’s Iga Swiatek is the defending women’s singles champ.

In February, Kwiatkowski had successfully obtained Vietnamese citizenship and is set to play for Vietnam's national tennis team at upcoming tournaments. He has played in three Grand Slam tournaments, including Australian Open, Roland Garros and U.S. Open.