The 2025 French Open, the yr’s second main, kicks off on Sunday. The reigning champions, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, are favored to repeat, however not by an amazing margin.
Listed here are the highest 5 storylines to watch at Roland-Garros.
The post-Rafa period is formally right here
Rafael Nadal retired from tennis ultimately yr’s Davis Cup, however his retirement won’t really feel official till the organizers of the French Open honor him during Sunday’s opening ceremony. It will be attention-grabbing to see who takes the throne from the 14-time winner, who made Roland-Garros his playground for practically 20 years. Alcaraz is the apparent candidate to succeed Nadal, however regulate blossoming World No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, who thrives on clay.
Can Coco Gauff trip her momentum?
The 21-year-old has been taking part in her finest tennis in a yr, reaching consecutive clay-court WTA 1000 finals in Rome and Madrid (the youngest participant to take action). Whereas she misplaced to Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka, she confirmed large progress in her clay-court recreation after an underwhelming clay-court swing in 2024 that noticed her falter on the Paris Olympics and Roland-Garros. Beforehand a runner-up on the French Open in 2022, Gauff is a much-improved participant. The 2023 U.S. Open winner is primed to win her second main.
Will the teenagers play spoiler once more?
On the Australian Open, three teenagers upset top-10-ranked players, a outstanding flip of occasions that hadn’t occurred at a major in nearly 20 years. The trio, Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca, has continued to take strides, with Mensik stunning Novak Djokovic to seize his first ATP1000 title in Miami. The rise of the teenagers extends to the ladies, with 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva winning back-to-back WTA1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells. No one ought to be shocked if Mensik or Andreeva go the gap, very like when a 19-year-old Nadal received his first French Open title in 2005.
Certainly, the Queen of Clay will not four-peat?
Swiatek is eying her fifth French Open title, and fourth in a row, however she arrives in Paris low on confidence after a collection of underwhelming performances in 2025. Her third-round exit at Rome meant she dropped to World No. 5 (lowest since 2022), making her path to a fifth title brutal, to place it mildly. The Pole may run into Emma Raducanu within the second spherical, No. 26 Marta Kostyuk within the third and No. 12 Elena Rybakina or No. 21 Jelena Ostapenko within the fourth. She is infamously 0-2 towards Rybakina on clay, and 0-6 total to Ostapenko, together with two losses this yr. Even when she will be able to escape the brutal draw, she’d need to cope with the red-hot Paolini or Sabalenka within the latter levels.
Will Alcaraz proceed to have Sinner’s quantity?
Since Sept. 27, 2023, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is 1-4 towards Alcaraz and 104-5 against the rest of the pack. Much more stunningly, his solely two losses on the Tour since August (41-2) have come towards the Spaniard. On the latest Rome closing, Alcaraz ended Sinner’s 26-match winning streak, bettering his head-to-head document towards the Italian to 7-4. The loss additionally marked Sinner’s first straight-sets loss since 2023, a testomony to his dominance of each participant not named Alcaraz. It is clear that Alcaraz has Sinner’s quantity and ought to be favored to win in the event that they collide within the closing of the French Open.
Honorable point out: Novak Djokovic returns to Paris
Final August, the Serb captured his first Olympic gold medal on the 2024 Paris Olympics to finish the profession ‘Golden Slam.’ Djokovic referred to the win as his “biggest sporting success,” which shocked many, contemplating his document 24 majors and different achievements. May the blissful reminiscences of Paris propel Djokovic to his twenty fifth main title? Current kind isn’t in his favor. The 38-year-old suffered back-to-back early losses in Monte Carlo and Madrid, and received simply the solitary title in 2024 (his worst year as a pro since 2005). Nonetheless, counting out the three-time Roland-Garros champion could be silly.
