The French Open: a vacant throne

When Rafael Nadal retired, the French Open lost its king. Several players have lifted the trophy, but the aura of the legendary left-hander has never been equaled. This season, several favorites are battling at the entrance to the clay temple, but who will take the throne?

The legitimate heir

Generational young talent, Spanish and already a title winner, Carlos Alcaraz seems like a shoo-in to be Rafael Nadal's successor. With 4 Grand Slam titles under his belt at just 22, he has a bright future ahead.

Just like his idol, Alcaraz seems particularly at ease on clay courts. He is also the current title holder of the Parisian Grand Slam. In 2024, he eliminated Tsitsipas, Sinner and then Zverev in the final to walk in Nadal's legendary footsteps as he secured his first victory in the French capital.

Recently, he won the Rome Masters 1000 by beating the world number 1 in the final, showing us all that he is more than ready to flaunt his talent on the Parisian courts. The Spaniard has everything he needs to inherit the throne and a second victory in a row would reinforce his status.

The final boss

If a player could incarnate domination, it would be Jannik Sinner. The Italian is number 1 in the ATP leaderboard and has been dominating the world of tennis for the last year since the last French Open. Despite being defeated by Alcaraz after 5 legendary sets, Sinner's impressive performances have allowed him to take the lead in leaderboard.

Sinner was suspended for 3 months after the Australian Open but came back for the Rome Masters 1000 and crushed Ruud 6-0, 6-1, before getting rid of Paul despite losing the first set. He then lost in the final 6-7, 1-6 against a dominant Carlos Alcaraz.

Despite this defeat, who other than the world number 1 should take the throne? In any case, there's no doubt that he's one of the big favorites of the competition. Will he manage to win the French Open for the first time?

The last musketeer

Nadal, Federer, Djokovic. This trio terrorized the tennis courts for more than 15 years. Now the Swiss and Spaniard have retired, only the Serbian remains to carry on the legacy of the golden era.

Novak Djokovic has 24 Grand Slams but only 3 French Open wins. Clay isn't the former world number 1's favorite surface, but you'd have to be crazy to bet against Novak.

Before this tournament, he participated in the Monte-Carlo and Madrid Masters 1000 and it's fair to say that his preparation was a resounding failure, with two first-round eliminations. A last dance at the top to pay homage to his former rival? It could happen; the Serbian won the competition in 2023 after Nadal's 14th victory.

We're not forgetting Alexander Zverev either. The German has had an average preparation between the good and the not so good, and is still chasing his first Grand Slam victory.

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