Kaylan Bigun wins 2024 Roland Garros boys' singles title, rises to junior world No. 1

Two weeks after his 18th birthday, American Kaylan Bigun won the biggest trophy of his young tennis career by claiming the 2024 Roland Garros boys' singles title on Saturday. The Los Angeles native capped his Paris run with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 final victory against Tomasz Berkieta of Poland to claim his first junior Grand Slam crown—and with it, a debut as junior world No. 1.

A UCLA commit for the fall of 2024, Bigun is the first American boys' singles champion at Roland Garros since Tommy Paul in 2015. Four years before Paul, Bjorn Fratangelo won the junior title in Paris in 2011.

"It means a lot," Bigun said in a post-match press conference. "I don't really play on red clay a good amount, and I don't think Americans have been known to specialize in the red clay.

"I just try to take every match one at a time and enjoy the moment and enjoy the places with my family, with my coaches."

The fifth seed won three-setters in each of the last three rounds and came back from a set down in both the semifinals and the championship match. Bigun beat second seed Joel Schwaerzler of Austria, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in Friday's semis before defeating Poland's Barkieta in the final. In the title round, he saved four break points in the opening game of set two before turning the match around.

Prior to Roland Garros, Bigun won a J500 event on red clay in Milan. The ITF ranking points he gained across both tournaments, along with quarterfinal points from last year's Wimbledon and the 2024 Australian Open, lifted him to the top spot in the boys' rankings for the first time on Monday.

"When I train at USTA in Carson, Marcos kind of kicks my [butt] every day," he said. "I obviously learned a lot from him because he's such a nice guy. I asked him about the tour. I even learned from him while I'm getting my [butt] kicked, with different shots to play and how he plays them.

"I think it's really cool to have a relationship like that where ... I can give him good practice and then I can learn from him at the same time."

Bigun will hope to follow in the footsteps of player like McDonald, Giron, Ben Shelton and Brandon Nakashima in taking the college pathway to success on the ATP Tour.

"I think college is a really good stepping stone for Americans wanting to become pros," he said. "I'm excited to go because it will only help me as a person but as a player, as well. So I feel like I can learn a lot of things in school."