Talented American Jack Kennedy has not had to look far at Roland Garros to imagine what might be possible if he continues to develop an already formidable game.

The 17-year-old, who won a high-class match against France's Daniel Jade, 6-4 6-3 on Tuesday, is set to attend the University of Virginia’s tennis programme later this year.

As he stepped onto Court Simonne-Mathieu for his second-round encounter, a former University of Virginia representative Rafael Jodar was playing a Roland Garros quarter-final against Alexander Zverev on the main stadium court.

Kennedy said watching the Spanish teenager excel this season after a stint with the Wahoos furthered his confidence in what is to come. 

“The goal is to follow what he has done," said Kennedy. "He has set the bar pretty high. I'm very excited for that.

“I'm super excited to get to work with the coaches … and not too long ago in the NCAAs (Championships) they took it home, so go the ‘Hoos for that one.

“I just see how the guys are on the team and how much they enjoy being there and playing under those three coaches and playing for each other, which is so special. I'm really looking forward to it and just counting down the days.”

A year ago at the Roland Garros Junior Championships, Kennedy performed well in reaching the third round, an effort he matched with his triumph over Dale. 

Since then he has shown promise in the junior and pro ranks, with experiences including a US Open qualifying match and more recently a run to final of the ATP Challenger event in Savannah, where he was beaten by Nishesh Basavareddy.

Kennedy has also impressed on the ITF World Tennis Tour – the main artery to the ATP and WTA Tours, winning M15 Boca Raton in April. 

The belief generated by that performance at Savannah in particular lingers but the 17-year-old said it also demonstrated the importance of pushing to strengthen his game.

“I had my coach down there for the whole week, had one of my best friends down there, and it was just really a great week tennis wise and mentally for me,” he said.

“I can take a lot of positives to go with that week and to take away from it but we just keep working. We’re never satisfied with anything until the career is over, and then we can sit back and smile and enjoy it but … we want to just keep working, keep improving, keep getting better.”

Pitted against Jade, who defeated Great Britain’s Dan Evans in the senior qualifying event a fortnight ago at Roland Garros, Kennedy was under pressure but dictated play after the rain delay.

Kennedy concedes height to most of his peers but his supreme court coverage and ability to problem solve is a feature that has stood him in good stead in his career so far.

An illustration of this was his position on return on occasion on the advantage court, with the American standing well outside the doubles lines and behind the baseline to return.

Jade had enjoyed great success working the angles on that side but Kennedy was able to negate this strength by moving wider and wider, allowing him to hit more forehands.

Kennedy is determined to better last year’s third round appearance but said the junior boys’ field was laden with quality players.

“I think a lot of people, after seeing the result in Savannah, kind of see me in this tournament as a huge favorite because I have done well in the pros, but it's all just noise to me,” he said. 

“I try to block that out as much as I can and I know that everyone can be anyone, and everyone's a great player here, and other players have really good results in the pros as well.”

A full list of results from the 2026 Roland Garros Junior Championships can be found here