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We are less than a month away from the 2025 Roland Garros tournament, commonly known as the French Open of tennis, and the situation is shaking out to be rather interesting this year.
The tournament is located in Paris, where the Olympics were hosted last year, and has been won by Rafael Nadal a record 14 times! The tournament is played on the natural surface of clay, made of crushed red brick, which is slow and high bouncing. To help better navigate the news headlines and the plethora of names that’ll be thrown around, here’s a quick rundown of the top 8 prospects to go deep and maybe take home the trophy in a month’s time.
8. Stefanos Tsitsipas (Ranked #18)
The Greek has been a top 10 player since 2019, but recently dropped in a rankings slump. Clay is his favourite surface with a 198/62 lifetime record, having won the Monte Carlo Masters 3 times, and making 2 Roland Garros quarterfinals. Clay shows off his sizzling forehand, but also hides his blaring weakness – his one-handed backhand – which more and more players know how to exploit. Tsitsipas has been testing the Babolat Pure Aero racket recently, showing marginal improvement in depth/consistency, but there is still work to be done. He has also begun to work with Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic’s former coach, which may aid in his vying for titles in the rest of the clay season. This would be his first Grand Slam title, and considering he’s been the 3rd/4th best clay player over the past 5 years, a win would be quite surprising this year, factoring in his poor recent form.
7. Arthur Fils (Ranked #14)
The Frenchman is a rising star at only 20 years of age. Clay is the best surface for him, evidenced by his 2 tour level titles on the surface, largely in terms of his forehand, which is the heaviest in the world by topspin and speed, even beating out Carlos Alcaraz. Fils is also a highly physical player, placing first in most of the physical tests done at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals. He is 86/54 lifetime, clocking wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev, with a recent quarterfinal at the Monte Carlo Masters, and a semifinal at the Barcelona Open, but has lost in the first round of Roland Garros for the past 2 years. A Roland Garros win would be very surprising at his age and career stage, despite him having the home crowd advantage, but an unexpected deep run could be very well possible.
6. Holger Rune (Ranked #9)
The Dane has just managed to pull himself back into the world’s top 10 after an injury slump, just in time for his favourite season. Another great clay player, he has heavy shotmaking with a strong redirect and pace absorption capability. Accompanied by great movement on the surface, he has been able to win 3 titles, and has gone 133/60 lifetime. He recently won the Barcelona Open, beating Carlos Alcaraz to do so, but has just retired in the Madrid Masters due to injury. Injury struggles have been inhibiting Rune’s full potential, and may well hinder his chances again at Roland Garros. A title or a deep run at the French Open would be a welcome surprise for him, but it simply doesn’t feel like it’s his time – he hasn’t shown that he is good enough physically at the rear end of the tournaments to be a competitor in the final stages. Nonetheless, never underestimate how far an open draw and a steely attitude might take him.
5. Casper Ruud (Ranked #15)
The Norwegian has been floating around the top 10 since 2021, having peaked at world number 3. Clay is by far his favourite surface, and he may be considered a specialist of sorts – the slower bounce allows him time to run around his weaker backhand to hit a heavy topspin forehand which backs the opponent into corners. He has won 11 titles on clay, and is 244/10 lifetime on the surface. He is a 2 time finalist at Roland Garros, and lost a close semifinal last year to Alexander Zverev. However, Ruud’s recent form is a retracting factor – he has dropped to #15 after losing all his points last year from the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open, and has had a couple of bad losses this year. It would be a sigh of relief for him to finally win a slam, with the French being his best chance by far, but he’d have to pick up some pace quickly in the Madrid/Rome Masters. Somehow, he always finds a way to pull it all together for a big run in Paris, so we’ll have to wait and see.
4. Novak Djokovic (Ranked #5)
The Serb needs no introduction – as the greatest player statistically that the sport has ever seen with a record 24 Grand Slam titles, there is also no doubt that he is the second best clay player of the century after Rafael Nadal. He’s won Roland Garros 3 times before, most recently in 2023, and won the Olympic Gold in the Paris 2024 Olympics. With countless other big clay titles, and a 347/79 lifetime record, he is no stranger to lifting silverware on the red dirt. However, woes of inconsistency have plagued Djokovic as Father Time begins to take his athleticism – he has lost his only two matches on clay this season to Tabilo (ranked #35) and Arnaldi (ranked #44), with sporadic results elsewhere. As his potentially last season on the tour, this would be a fairytale title win, but is unlikely given his current form. Nevertheless, we’ve learnt well never to underestimate what a little motivation to beat the new kids can do.
3. Alexander Zverev (Ranked #2)
The German has been a top 10 player since 2017, only dropping out in 2022 after being out with an ankle injury. Clay is his best surface, allowing him more time on his forehand side, which can struggle with consistency. He redirects well on the backhand, and moves great for his tall stature. Armed with a big serve that penetrates through the slow clay and pace absorption, Zverev has gone 206/92 lifetime on the surface, with 4 Masters 1000 titles and many other lower level clay titles. He’s beaten the best of the best on clay, with wins over Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic. Having just won the Munich Open, his form is decent, and it wouldn’t be a surprise win at all. Having made 3 Roland Garros semifinals before, and the final last year losing to Carlos Alcaraz, it might just be his time this year, especially if some of the competition lose early.
2. Jannik Sinner (Ranked #1)
As my favourite player, I wish I could put him first, but the Italian is in a sticky situation. Despite spending 54 weeks consecutively at world number 1 now, his 3 month negligence suspension has rendered him unable to train properly. Thus, it’s quite difficult to assess his current form on clay, as he makes his return in Hamburg in 2 weeks time. Sinner is a very decent clay player, with his strengths of movement, consistent yet powerful groundstrokes, logical point construction, and variety all transferring well to the surface. He’s won a clay title before, and made a handful of big finals/semifinals, but is yet to win a big title. Enjoying a 90/43 lifetime record, he also made the semifinals of last year’s Roland Garros, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in a tight 5 setter with next to zero tournament preparation due to sickness. As the unquestionably best player in the world at the moment, his form is excellent, having won the last 2 grand slams, and 37 of his last 38 matches. It wouldn’t be unexpected for Sinner to bring home the trophy, but I cannot logically place him at #1 with the lack of matchplay recently. If he returns with the same intensity though, there is little anybody can do to stop him.
1. Carlos Alcaraz (Ranked #3)
The Spanish phenom is a master of the clay, where his weapons shine the most. He can run around his backhand for a massive forehand, hit cinematic shots whilst deftly touching over dropshots, and moves like he was born on the surface. Armed with a good kick serve, he is 156/36 lifetime with 4 big titles on clay. As the defending Roland Garros champion, beating Alexander Zverev in the final, Alcaraz is absolutely the favourite this year to keep the silverware in his cabinet. His last 4 clay tournaments are a title at Roland Garros, an Olympic Silver medal, a title at the Monte Carlo Masters, and a final at the Barcelona Open. This is almost an expected win for him, and with so many things that benefit him on this surface, if he’s on, he’ll be nigh unstoppable.
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