ATP Tour

Royer soaking it all in at Wimbledon: 'I'm living the dream'

When Valentin Royer’s father was busy working in the grocery trade across Eastern Europe, his son was out on the tennis courts, learning the grind the hard way.

That same relentless drive continues to define the 24-year-old Frenchman, fuelling his breakthrough 2025 season. Royer, who claimed back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles in March, is now enjoying the biggest moment of his career after qualifying for the his first main-draw appearance at Wimbledon.

“I grew up most of my childhood there and I mostly focus on the work ethic that I was able to get from those countries,” Royer told ATPTour.com in a quiet room at the All England Club. “If you want to break through coming from those countries, you have to work even more because you have less money. So everything goes together.

“It was always a dream to play these tournaments, so when I qualified, it was very emotional for me. We always say ‘Hard work pays off’ and that's the moment where it really paid off. So I was really thinking about all the past, all my sacrifices, the fact that I left home when I was 13 years old, all those hours on court again and again, that finally paid off.”

Though qualifying for Wimbledon marked a significant milestone, Royer knows his journey is far from complete. With limited experience on grass before last week’s qualifying rounds at Roehampton, he remains a relative newcomer to the surface.

Still, adaptability is one of his strengths. And after his first-round match at Wimbledon — where he led former World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas by two sets before the Greek retired — Royer finds himself in uncharted territory, advancing to the second round of a major for the first time.

“There is no rise, you have to stay humble,” said Royer, the No. 113 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I'm just in the second round… My ultimate goal is to be in the last four or last two in these kinds of tournaments. After the first round in the qualies, I was down 6-4. We're like ‘Okay, not going to be this year, it's going to be next year’. But we managed it through and yeah, we're just going through the rounds and working more and more to be able to play even better on grass.

“I played pretty well [on grass] as a junior. I think it helped me also and the fact that we had more time this year to prepare on grass and to work on specific things, specific aspects of the game, which are very different from other surfaces, but my game is pretty adaptable to all kinds of surfaces.”

Sitting down with ATPTour.com, Royer projects a quiet confidence wrapped in humility. His understated grin reflects both the excitement of his career milestone and the momentum he’s built since March, when he captured headlines with a 14-match winning streak on the ATP Challenger Tour.

For many players, one spark can change everything, and for Royer, the surge of form was exactly the turning point he needed.

“A little thing clicked in my head to be honest,” Royer said. “Especially the fact that before. I was a little bit worried about whether I can [win] back to back tournaments, or even win three tournaments in a row. When I was seeing players doing these kinds of performances, I was like ‘Wow, how do they go through this? It's so hard’.

“I said ‘No, I'm fully capable of it. My fitness is good’. It was just mental. We were working super hard physically in the preseason, so I was quite confident in my fitness level. Those tournaments help for sure. It helped to click something in my head to know that physically I can last for a long, long time on court.”

That physical foundation will be crucial as Royer continues his Wimbledon debut, where he faces a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with countryman Adrian Mannarino in the second round. Though for now, he’s soaking in the experience at one of tennis’s most storied venues.

“It’s amazing, it's the first time I come to Wimbledon as a pro,” said Royer. “But man, it's just one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. So much history has been made here. It's such a privilege to play here, it's so beautiful. Everything is perfect. I was walking through the aisle and there were people painting the bins… It's pretty impressive.

“It’s the perfect time… I'm living the dream, just being on Tour and seeing unbelievable venues like Wimbledon.”