Schoolkate and Aiava earn wildcards into French Open
Schoolkate, who ended Jannik Sinner's set-winning streak on Rod Laver Arena in January, and Aiava, who enjoyed a sparkling run through qualifying into the Open second round, will feature in at least a 15-strong Aussie contingent in the Paris main draw.
It could well be even more than that with another dozen Australians battling in qualifying for places at Roland Garros the week after next, with the tournament proper starting on May 25.
The duo are Tennis Australia's picks as part of the reciprocal wildcard agreements between the four grand slams.
Schoolkate, the Perth 24-year-old who caused a mini-sensation by taking the first stanza off champion Sinner to end a three-month spell when the Italian world No.1 didn't lose a set, has been largely playing second-tier Challenger events since then.
The world No.129 did win one in Brisbane in February and made the final in Guangzhou earlier this month, but he hasn't yet played a tour-level match on clay, so is effectively being thrown in at the deep end.
Aiava, the 25-year-old Melburnian, has also been battling in lower-level events since the giddy high of Melbourne.
There she battled through three qualifying matches, defeated Belgian Greet Minnen in a third-set tiebreaker and gave former finalist Danielle Collins a scare in the second round, continuing the good work of the 2024 US Open where she also got through qualies.
Her best result since the Australian Open was reaching the final of an ITF event in Prague but she too is an absolute beginner on clay.
Aiava will be the sixth Australian woman guaranteed a spot in the main draw at Roland Garros alongside Daria Kasatkina, Kim Birrell, Maya Joint, Ajla Tomljanovic and Olivia Gadecki.
In the men's draw, Schoolkate will take his place alongside Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson, Aleksandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Adam Walton, Chris O'Connell and James Duckworth.
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