The Tamesis
The most compelling story of this year’s French Open, which kicked off yesterday, may well be whose story it is no here. Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time defending French Open champion – including a stunning comeback last year in an epic five-and-a-half-hour match with Jannik Sinner, the longest final in the tournament’s history – won’t be rocking the court. batre batue Paris this year. A right wrist injury forced the world number two to withdraw (he has since announced he would also miss Wimbledon), and his absence completely changed the tournament. France’s Arthur Fils, also a home fans’ favorite, had to withdraw due to injury on the eve of the game, while England’s Jack Draper, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti and Dane Holger Rune also left the team.
On the other hand, the top women are all here – but interestingly, there’s no clear and dominant favorite (hopefully it’ll be an action-packed fortnight). Instead, we have world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Elena Rybakina, three-time champion Iga Swiatek (No. 3 seed) and defending champion Coco Gauff (No. 4 seed) — none of whom have ever won a title on the traditional clay courts of Madrid or Rome.
Gauff is the defending champion and the most likely threat to repeat based on her clay-court pedigree alone. Last year she beat Sabalenka in three grueling sets to clinch the title, but if she ends up facing her in the semifinals this year she’ll need to rely on her amazing resilience, as Sabalenka has been gobbling up opponents of late (yes, with notable exceptions) and seems desperate for her first French title.
As is often the case with her these days, Swiatek remains a wild card. Her four French titles make her the most decorated active player here, but her path to the draw has been complicated. She could face Jelena Ostapenko as early as the third round, and she takes pleasure in defeating higher-ranked opponents and leads 6-0 against Swiatek. Meanwhile, Rybakina already has a Grand Slam (Australian Open) in her bag this year, although she has never reached the quarterfinals here.
Other players to watch include: Madrid champion Elina Svitolina, Rome champion Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk (who gave a powerful, tearful speech after winning yesterday’s opening match and noted that she only learned before walking onto the court that her home in Kiev was only 100 meters away from a Russian missile attack earlier in the day) and the ever-dangerous Mila Andreeva (provided she can keep her cool).
On the men’s side, Alcaraz’s departure has led many to suggest that engravers start carving Jannik Sinner’s name onto the trophy now. The world number one is the overwhelming favorite (a win at Roland Garros would also complete his career Grand Slam). He was on an 11-game winning streak and he lost this game.
Second seed Alexander Zverev represents the most credible threat, although Novak Djokovic – who has won five French trophies among his 24 Grand Slam titles – still appears capable of challenging for a major with a bit of luck. As for American men? Well, the draw was already a bit stacked against them: On the opening day, seventh-seeded Taylor Fritz, who looked a bit rusty after withdrawing from the tour earlier this year with a knee injury, defeated Nishesh Basavareddy, a 21-year-old wild card player from Carmel, Indiana, ranked No. 148 in the world, in four sets.
Enjoy tennis!
