Björn Borg defeated Manuel Orantes in the final, 2–6, 6–7(4–7), 6–0, 6–1, 6–1 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 1974 French Open. It was his first major title, the first of an eventual six French Open titles, and the first of eleven major titles overall. This was the first time in the Open Era that a player came back from two-sets-to-love down in a major final.
Ilie Năstase was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Harold Solomon.
Jimmy Connors was barred from participating in the tournament due to his activity in World TeamTennis. He won all of the other three majors during the year: the Australian Open, Wimbledon Championships, and US Open.
The first two rounds of the tournament were played as best-of-three sets, while the last five rounds were played as best-of-five sets.
Seeds The seeded players are listed below. Björn Borg is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.
Ilie Năstase (quarterfinals) Jan Kodeš (fourth round) Björn Borg (champion) Arthur Ashe (fourth round) Tom Gorman (second round) Stan Smith (first round) Adriano Panatta (second round) Alex Metreveli (second round) Raúl Ramírez (quarterfinals) François Jauffret (semifinals) Paolo Bertolucci (first round) Eddie Dibbs (fourth round) Marty Riessen (fourth round) Manuel Orantes (final) Brian Gottfried (second round) Jaime Fillol Sr. (fourth round)
Qualifying
Draw
Key Q = Qualifier WC = Wild card LL = Lucky loser r = Retired
Finals
Top half Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Bottom half Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
References
External links Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – 1974 French Open Men's Singles draw 1974 French Open – Men's draws and results at the International Tennis Federation