A look back at the French Open semifinalists debuts

Only adding to their legacies in Paris, the top four men’s seeds at the French Open—Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem—have all advanced to the semifinals, marking the first time that’s happened since 2012.

At the onset of their careers, all four of them showed that Roland Garros would prove to be much to their liking, evidenced by the fact that they have 13 titles out of 21 finals between them.

Here’s a look at how all four did in their first appearances at the clay-court Slam.

Dominic Thiem — Debut Year: 2014

Displaying the workhorse attitude he’s become renowned for at an early age, Thiem had battled through the qualifying rounds at seven ATP tournaments already by the time the 2014 French Open rolled around. Having fought his way up the rankings to earn entry directly into the tournament, the then-20-year-old Austrian won his opening match against the veteran Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the next round, though, his tournament came to a prompt end at the hands of eight-time champion Nadal.

Roger Federer — Debut Year: 1999

In 1998, Federer sat atop the junior world rankings after winning the Wimbledon boys’ title and making the final of the junior US Open, all while dipping his toes into the adult ranks. In his first full professional season, Federer made his Grand Slam debut on the senior circuit at the French Open, ranked within striking distance of the Top 100. The then-17-year-old Swiss drew Patrick Rafter, the No. 3 seed, in the first round and managed to take the first set against the two-time major winner. From there, though, Rafter would go on to roll through the next three sets, giving his young opponent a lesson in Grand Slam tennis.

Novak Djokovic — Debut Year: 2005

The then-18-year-old from Serbia entered the French Open that year with momentum on his side, having won an ATP Challenger title in San Remo, Italy, just before. At the first Slam of the season in Melbourne, Djokovic advanced through the qualifying rounds only to run into eventual champion Marat Safin in his main-draw opener, which he dropped to the Russian in straight sets. In Paris, he raced through his first match against Robby Ginepri, losing only three games, to set up a meeting with the 2004 runner-up Guillermo Coria. Djokovic took the first set against Coria before the Argentine righted the ship to claim the second. Down 2-3 in the third, the world No. 153-ranked Djokovic retired from the match with a back injury.

Rafael Nadal — Debut Year: 2005

The ATP’s Newcomer of the Year in 2003, Nadal missed the bulk of the spring clay-court season the following year, including the French Open, due to an ankle injury. He did capture his first career singles title on clay in August, which only raised expectations for when he hit the dirt in 2005. He won two tournaments during the “Golden Swing” that year, then came out on top in Barcelona, Rome and Monte Carlo. Seeded No. 4 at Roland Garros, his winning streak continued all the way to the championship match, where he beat Mariano Puerta for his first Grand Slam victory . The young Spaniard became the second player after Mats Wilander in 1982 to win Roland Garros in his debut.

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