Paris in late May is tennis at its most demanding and most beautiful. This year's tournament arrives after a clay swing that produced three different winners at Madrid, Rome, and Lyon. The form book has rarely been harder to read.
Title Contenders: The Men's Draw
Carlos Alcaraz enters as defending champion and the favourite, but his clay season has been uncharacteristically inconsistent. He won Barcelona, exited Madrid in the quarter-finals, and arrives in Paris with a niggling forearm complaint. If the forearm holds and the draw cooperates through week one, he should be in the quarter-finals without difficulty.
Jannik Sinner: The Methodical Threat
Sinner has won 18 of his last 20 clay court matches. His ball speed off the ground has increased measurably since his pre-season work with new coaching input. His weakness at Roland Garros has historically been tactical: he can be drawn into predictable patterns when under extreme early pressure.
“Clay is still clay. If someone is better than you on it, you cannot escape that reality by hitting harder. But the margin for aggression has grown.”
— Carlos Alcaraz, Rome post-match press conference, 2026
Women's Draw: Wide Open
The women's draw is the most genuinely open French Open in a decade. Iga Swiatek has not lost a Roland Garros match since 2020 — but a quarter-final defeat in Rome to a 21-year-old ranked 28th in the world will have sent a signal through the locker room. Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys, and Mirra Andreeva all arrive with legitimate title credentials.
Dark Horses to Watch
- ·Lorenzo Musetti (men's): Italian clay specialist who reached the 2025 semi-final.
- ·Mirra Andreeva (women's): 19 years old, fearless, and comfortable in the long rally game.
- ·Sebastian Baez (men's): Three clay titles before Roland Garros, lethal with heavy topspin.
- ·Karolina Muchova (women's): returning from injury with unique shot variety.
Full draw analysis and daily match previews throughout the fortnight in the Tennis section.
About this article
Written by the ACES Arena Sport editorial team. Our journalists cover Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and international tournaments with first-hand knowledge of the game. Content is fact-checked against primary sources including Premier League, BBC Sport, and UEFA.
