The French Open men’s singles main draw contains 128 players.
That number describes the tournament’s starting singles field, not the total number of competitors who attempt to qualify. The 128-player bracket is arranged so that every entrant has a first-round opponent, with no byes in the standard Grand Slam singles draw. After the first round, the field is reduced to 64, then 32, 16, 8, 4 and finally 2 before the champion is decided.
The field is assembled through several routes. Most places go to direct entrants based on rankings, while other positions are awarded through wild cards and qualifying. The qualifying tournament is separate from the main draw: it also begins with a large field, but only a limited number of qualifiers advance into the 128-player championship bracket.
The figure is sometimes confused with 256 because a full 128-player knockout bracket contains 127 matches, while the qualifying event and other singles competitions add many more players. Doubles are different again: the French Open men’s doubles main draw has 64 teams, not 128 individual singles players.