Andrés Gimeno Andrés Gimeno Tolaguera (3 August 1937 – 9 October 2019) was a Spanish tennis player. His greatest achievement came in 1972, when he won the French Open and became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the Open era at 34 years of age. ...

defeated

Patrick Proisy Patrick Proisy (born 10 September 1949) is a French former professional tennis player best remembered for reaching the final of the French Open in 1972 (where he beat top seed and defending champion Jan Kodeš in the quarter-finals and fourth s ...

in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 6–1 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1972 French Open. This was his first and only major title and, at the age of 34, he became the oldest first-time major champion in the

Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...

Jan Kodeš Jan Kodeš (born 1 March 1946) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time major singles champion, Kodeš was one of the premier players in the early 1970s. Kodeš's greatest success was achieved on the clay courts of the French ...

was the two-time defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Proisy. The French Lawn Tennis Federation halved the size of the draw from 128 to 64 players in an attempt to attract the top players on tour to the tournament; this change was reverted the following year as results were mixed.

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below.

is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated. #

''(quarterfinals)'' #

Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (, born 19 July 1946) is a former World No. 1 Romanian tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the top position on the computerized ATP rankin ...

''(first round)'' # Stan Smith ''(quarterfinals)'' #

Manuel Orantes Manuel Orantes Corral (; born 6 February 1949) is a former tennis player from Spain who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. He won the US Open men's singles title in 1975, beating defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final. Orantes reached ...

''(semifinals)'' # Bob Hewitt ''(first round)'' #

(champion) #

Pierre Barthès Pierre Barthès (born 13 September 1941) is a retired French tennis player. Career Born in Béziers, Barthès was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an A ...

''(third round)'' #

Željko Franulović Željko Franulović (; born 13 June 1947) is a Croatian former tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia and has since had a long career in tennis management. He has been the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament director since 2005. Whilst his c ...

''(first round)'' #

''(final)'' #

Alex Metreveli Alexander Irakliyevich Metreveli ( ka, ალექსანდრე მეტრეველი, tr, ; russian: Александр Ираклиевич Метревели ; born 2 November 1944) is a retired Soviet tennis player of Georgian b ...

''(semifinals)'' #

Clark Graebner Clark Graebner (born November 4, 1943) is a retired American professional tennis player. Early life Graebner was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of Paul Graebner, a doctor, and his wife, the former Janice Clark. Paul had been a moderat ...

''(third round)'' # Jimmy Connors ''(second round)'' # Jaime Fillol Sr. ''(second round)'' # František Pala ''(third round)'' # - #

Barry Phillips-Moore Barry Phillips-Moore (born 9 June 1938) is an Australian former tennis player of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In singles, Phillips-Moore twice reached the semifinals of the Australian Championships, in 1961 and 1968. In doubles, he was a q ...

''(third round)''

Qualifying

Draw

Finals

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

References

External links

Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – 1972 French Open Men's Singles draw

1972 French Open – Men's draws and results
at the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 French Open - Men's Singles Men's Singles French Open by year – Men's singles 1972 Grand Prix (tennis)