Georgia’s tennis star Nikoloz Basilashvili qualifies for Roland Garros

Georgia's top tennis talent Nikoloz Basilashvili will play in this year’s Roland Garros French Open after defeating three players to qualify for the first round of the prestigious tournament.

This will be the second major tennis tournament of the year for Basilashvili.

Earlier today Basilashvili defeated Jared Donaldson of the United States in the third qualifying round of Roland Garros in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The Georgian, seeded number 14 of the French competition, will now be drawn against players already in the first round of the contest, which launched in Paris on May 16. The date and opponent for his first round match will be determined following the draw.

Basilashvili, who has won two Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger tournaments this year, was one of 16 players to advance into the main Roland Garros draw following today's third qualifying round.

Before defeating Donaldson, Basilashvili overcame Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the second qualifying stage on Thursday. Before this, Basilashvili enjoyed his first qualifying win against France's Tristan Lamasine on May 17.

Roland Garros is one of four major tennis tournaments played each year by the world’s top tennis players.

The French event follows the Australian Open and is held before Wimbledon and the US Open tournaments, which take place later in the year.

Basilashvili also played at this year's Australian Open but was eliminated by 17-time Grand Slam title winner Roger Federer in the first round of the contest in January.

More recently he won two ATP Challenger titles in Heilbronn, Germany and Guangzhou, China.

The 24-year old Georgian held his career-best 86th world singles ranking in October 2015.

The full draw for the first round of Men's Singles tournament at Roland Garros can be viewed on the official website here.

This year's French tournament will run until June 5.