Skilled tennis is in a fairly funky place in the meanwhile. On the boys’s aspect, top-ranked Jannik Sinner simply got here off a three-month doping suspension that, whereas virtually actually a no-fault difficulty on his half, left a void atop the game. Nobody actually took benefit of Sinner’s absence. Alexander Zverev had an opportunity to maneuver to No. 1 however misplaced earlier than the semifinals in seven of eight tournaments and fell to 3rd. All-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic has struggled as nicely.
On the ladies’s aspect, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Coco Gauff and No. 6 Mirra Andreeva have reached a mixed eight finals in Slams or 1000-level occasions in 2025. However Roland Garros is usually Iga Swiatek’s purview; the 23-year-old has received 4 French Opens — matching Rafael Nadal’s early-career tempo — however dealt along with her personal no-fault doping suspension within the fall, and she or he has already misplaced as many matches in 2025 (9) as she did in 2024.
Can anybody within the males’s draw forestall a Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz finale? Has Swiatek’s shaky kind (and a brutal draw) made Sabalenka, Gauff or Andreeva the ladies’s title favourite?
Intriguing questions abound, and the leisure ought to start proper from the beginning of a primary spherical that features matchups like 2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in opposition to 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, defending males’s champion Alcaraz in opposition to Kei Nishikori and a battle of former top-5 girls, Elena Rybakina vs. Belinda Bencic.
There are 256 women and men within the singles fields, however on this French Open fortnight, let us take a look at 20 gamers who’ve a very good likelihood at successful a variety of matches.
The favorites
Carlos Alcaraz
ESPN BET odds: +105
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 7 Casper Ruud (quarterfinals)
Jannik Sinner could be the most effective males’s participant on the earth, however he has one fairly obvious flaw in the meanwhile: He cannot beat Carlos Alcaraz. The defending French Open champ has crushed Sinner 4 occasions in a row, together with two clay-court matchups: a five-set Alcaraz win in final yr’s French Open semis and a 7-6, 6-1 resolution final week in Rome. Sinner was clearly nonetheless enjoying his means into form after months on the sideline, however this rivalry has develop into more and more fascinating in that, in 12 complete conferences, the lower-ranked participant has received 9 occasions. Proper now, that participant is Alcaraz.
Alcaraz involves Paris in wonderful kind. After a bumpy hard-court season, he is 15-1 on clay in 2025, beating Lorenzo Musetti to win in Monte Carlo, then Jack Draper, Musetti and Sinner within the final three rounds to win in Rome. Actually, going again to final yr’s French Open, he has misplaced solely two of his previous 29 clay matches: to Holger Rune in Barcelona in April and to Novak Djokovic in final yr’s shocking Olympic gold medal match.
We’d discover out that Sinner has an additional gear to deploy this yr as soon as he is totally in match form, however proper now Alcaraz is a identified amount and the gold normal on the grime.
Jannik Sinner
ESPN BET odds: +220
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 5 Jack Draper or No. 9 Alex de Minaur (quarterfinals)
Jannik Sinner’s breakthrough started virtually precisely two years in the past. After a irritating early-round exit within the 2023 French Open, he reached the Wimbledon semis and was off to the races: He received 33 of his final 39 matches in 2023, and he is a staggering 85-7 for the reason that begin of 2024. He may not be the most effective clay-court participant on the earth but — Alcaraz would possibly nonetheless declare that title — however he is the most effective participant total.
And his completely ruthless 6-0, 6-1 win over Casper Ruud within the Rome quarterfinals was as dominant a victory as you may see in opposition to a top-10 participant. Ruud has made two French Open finals, however Sinner completed the match having received 76% of his personal service factors and 68% of Ruud’s.
It isn’t significantly enjoyable to root for chalk in tournaments, however the concept of a primary Sinner-Alcaraz Slam remaining is tantalizing.
Aryna Sabalenka
ESPN BET odds: +250
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 8 Zheng Qinwen (quarterfinals)
Contemplating Iga Swiatek has received 32 of her previous 33 French Open matches, it will be honest to only pencil her in as the favourite regardless of her present kind. However utilizing any 2025 proof by any means, you might need to present the sting to the World No. 1: Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka has made the finals in six of eight tournaments in 2025, plus 4 of her previous six clay-court tournaments and 5 of her previous eight Slams. She fell right into a February funk after shedding to Madison Keys within the Australian Open remaining, dropping three of 4 matches total. In any other case she’s 33-3 in 2025. Clay might be her worst floor, nevertheless it may not matter. She does not win each remaining she reaches, however she’s the most certainly participant to get there in any event she enters.
Iga Swiatek
ESPN BET odds: +340
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 4 Jasmine Paolini (quarterfinals)
Iga Swiatek is on tempo to finish up as the best girls’s clay-courter ever, however her kind is a query mark. She’s 0-4 this yr in opposition to Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva, and she or he didn’t make the finals of any of the three clay tournaments she entered this spring. That is the shakiest she has seemed in years. Will that matter? Or will the Iga aura return the second she walks onto Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier?
The aura higher return rapidly. Swiatek may play an in-form Marta Kostyuk within the third spherical, Jelena Ostapenko (in opposition to whom she’s 0-6) or Elena Rybakina (0-2 on clay) within the fourth, 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini within the quarterfinals, Aryna Sabalenka within the semis and Andreeva or Gauff within the finals. That may be a ridiculous draw. Higher discover the A-game rapidly.
Coco Gauff
ESPN BET odds: +550
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 7 Madison Keys or No. 9 Emma Navarro (quarterfinals)
Throughout a three-match shedding streak early within the season, Coco Gauff misplaced six straight units and was damaged 11 occasions. She was damaged seven occasions in a three-set win over Dayana Yastremska in Madrid and 10 occasions in a three-set win over Zheng Qinwen. She’s double-faulting 8.9% of the time, and she or he’s successful simply 42.3% of her second-serve factors, her lowest charge since 2020.
Gauff can be the No. 2 participant on the earth, having reached the finals in Madrid and Rome. She has swept Mirra Andreeva twice previously month. She’s returning serve in addition to ever, and till a defective remaining in opposition to Jasmine Paolini, her serve was regular and robust in Rome. When Aryna Sabalenka misplaced management of her serve in 2021, the remainder of her sport improved to compensate, and when she conquered her serve once more in 2022, she was a totally totally different participant. It is inconceivable to not assume the identical factor would possibly occur with Gauff someday. It’d have already got began.
Mirra Andreeva
ESPN BET odds: +600
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 10 Paula Badosa (fourth spherical)
She hasn’t discovered Coco Gauff but, however in any other case, Mirra Andreeva is means forward of schedule. Between her seventeenth and 18th birthdays, she beat Aryna Sabalenka to achieve the French Open semis and received back-to-back 1000-level tournaments in Dubai and Indian Wells. She was ranked forty third when she turned 17 and was seventh when she turned 18. She’s 20-4 since mid-February, and her serve numbers are skyrocketing. She’s absorbing classes and bettering at each flip.
No Slam path is simple, however Andreeva’s is not unhealthy. She may play Ashlyn Krueger (who upset her in final yr’s US Open) within the second spherical and Paula Badosa or Naomi Osaka within the fourth. However, as we mentioned, she’s 20-4 since mid-February. The holes in her sport are closing rapidly.
Solely want a couple of breaks
Novak Djokovic
ESPN BET odds: +1100
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 3 Alexander Zverev (quarterfinals)
“Underdog Novak Djokovic.” It simply by no means fairly sounds proper. And technically, it actually is not appropriate. Per ESPN BET, the 38-year-old remains to be the No. 3 favourite within the event, and per Tennis Summary’s energy rankings, he is nonetheless the third-best participant on the earth — behind Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
However Djokovic hasn’t provided a ton of proof of that these days. Earlier than coming into the Geneva event this week, he was 0-3 on clay in 2025 and simply 5-6 since his damage retirement on the Australian Open.
Successful some matches in Geneva, then returning to the best-of-five format that has lengthy been his specialty, may spark one other French Open run for the best participant of all time. However the considered him beating Alexander Zverev (quarterfinals), Sinner (semis) and Alcaraz (finals) positive looks as if rather a lot to ask.
Jasmine Paolini
ESPN BET odds: +1400
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 5 Iga Swiatek (quarterfinals)
It was simple to underestimate 5-foot-4 Jasmine Paolini at first. She did not actually get pleasure from a profession breakthrough till age 28, when she reached the 2024 French Open finals. However as an alternative of serving as a one-off in her profession, it served to shift her into a brand new gear. She reached the Wimbledon remaining, too, and whereas exhausting courts actually aren’t her factor — she’s simply 22-13 on the floor over the previous yr — she’s 10-2 on clay in 2025. She received Rome final week, and she or he has crushed Coco Gauff twice in straight units. She’s prepared for one more run.
Alexander Zverev
ESPN BET odds: +1400
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 6 Novak Djokovic (quarterfinals)
It has been a disappointing yr for 28-year-old Alexander Zverev, who was poised to achieve No. 1 for the primary time and as an alternative performed shakier and shakier tennis till No. 1 was now not an choice. Nonetheless, he received the Munich title in April and has reached the French Open semifinals for 4 straight years. He took Carlos Alcaraz to 5 units in final yr’s remaining.
Zverev can play sufferball with the most effective of them, although he struggles on clay to grind his well past Jannik Sinner (he is 0-2 since Sinner’s 2024 breakthrough) or Alcaraz (to whom he has misplaced 10 of 13 units on clay).
Zheng Qinwen
ESPN BET odds: +1800
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (quarterfinals)
Zheng Qinwen, 22, reached her first Slam remaining in 2024 (Australian Open), then beat Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros on the way in which to Olympic gold final summer season. Since a bumpy winter run, she has reached 4 quarterfinals and one semi since March, and she or he simply beat Aryna Sabalenka for the primary time (in Rome).
Like Coco Gauff, Zheng struggled along with her serve within the yr’s early months, however she’s returning higher than ever. She does, nevertheless, have a probably tough first-round matchup with 2021 finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat her final yr of their solely encounter.
Lorenzo Musetti
ESPN BET odds: +2200
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 10 Holger Rune (fourth spherical)
Few gamers on the boys’s aspect are as in-form because the Italian, who reached the finals in Monte Carlo and the semis in Madrid and Rome. He wobbled a bit within the early months of 2025, however the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist (and Wimbledon semifinalist) is a hell of a shotmaker. He is simply 2-16 in opposition to Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic however is able to taking down anybody else within the subject.
Casper Ruud
ESPN BET odds: +3300
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (quarterfinals)
Casper Ruud has made it previous the fourth spherical of 4 Slams, three of which had been French Opens. He has made it to the finals of three 1000-level occasions, two of which had been on clay. The 26-year-old makes use of closely torqued topspin to push opponents behind the baseline on clay, and he is 16-3 over the previous three years at Roland Garros. The jarring loss to Jannik Sinner was a reminder that he might need a decrease ceiling than others, however the nine-match successful streak that preceded the loss was a reminder that his flooring on clay is sort of excessive.
Jessica Pegula
ESPN BET odds: +4000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 6 Mirra Andreeva or No. 10 Paula Badosa (quarterfinals)
Jessica Pegula has handed the third spherical of the French Open solely as soon as, however the 2024 US Open finalist stays considered one of tennis’ steadiest forces. She has reached 4 finals in 2025, successful two, and one was on the clay in Charleston. She has dropped three of 5 matches since that win in South Carolina, however she continues to hoover up tour factors and ranks third on the earth.
Others: Elena Rybakina (+3300), Elina Svitolina (+3300), Jelena Ostapenko (+4000), Jack Draper (+4000), Paula Badosa (+4000), Madison Keys (+5000), Francisco Cerundolo (+5000), Daniil Medvedev (+5000), Belinda Bencic (+5000)
They love Roland Garros
Holger Rune
ESPN BET odds: +4000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti (fourth spherical)
Nonetheless solely 22, Holger Rune has reached three Slam quarterfinals, and two had been in Paris (2022, 2023). He has battled minor damage and main inconsistency, however he is a wonderful 6-4 in opposition to top-5 gamers on clay and swept Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6, 6-2, to win Barcelona in April. You would possibly find yourself pissed off whether or not you guess on him or in opposition to him.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
ESPN BET odds: +5000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (fourth spherical)
There are many gamers with French Open success on their résumé, and so a lot of them have battled spotty type of late. Take Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 2021 finalist, who led Novak Djokovic by two units in that remaining earlier than succumbing from there, has reached the previous two French Open quarterfinals, however they’re the one quarters he has reached in his previous eight Slams.
He is all the way down to twentieth on the earth, and misplaced three of his previous 5 matches. He hasn’t crushed a top-10 opponent on any floor for over a yr. If Tsitsipas goes to seek out fifth gear once more, it’s going to be in Paris.
Others: Alex de Minaur (+5000, 2024 quarterfinalist), Ons Jabeur (+5000, two-time quarterfinalist), Karolina Muchova (+5000, 2023 finalist), Maria Sakkari (+5000, 2021 semifinalist), Donna Vekic (+6600, 2024 Olympic silver medalist), Grigor Dimitrov (+6600, 2024 quarterfinalist), Beatriz Haddad Maia (+6600, 2023 semifinalist), Daria Kasatkina (+6600, 2022 semifinalist), Barbora Krejcikova (+6600, 2021 champion), Sofia Kenin (+6600, 2020 finalist), Marketa Vondrousova (+6600, 2019 finalist), Stan Wawrinka (+6600, 2015 champion)
Probably the most well-positioned People not named Gauff or Pegula
Peyton Stearns
ESPN BET odds: +5000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 8 Qinwen Zheng (third spherical)
Coco Gauff is clearly the most certainly American to win a title at Roland Garros, and Jessica Pegula’s excessive flooring most likely retains her second on the checklist. However 23-year-old Peyton Stearns, a former Texas Longhorn, positive appears to love the burnt orange floor. Her previous 4 semifinals at any degree have come on clay, and her run to the Rome semifinals bumped her as much as a career-high twenty eighth on the earth. In her previous 10 clay matches, she has received eight and misplaced solely to Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka.
Tommy Paul
ESPN BET odds: +6600
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 7 Casper Ruud (fourth spherical)
There are 4 American males seeded within the prime 15 and 7 seeded total, led by No. 5 Taylor Fritz and 12-seed Tommy Paul. However these seven males are a mixed 32-34 at Roland Garros, and solely Fritz (2024) and Sebastian Korda (2020) have reached even the fourth spherical. Over the previous yr, nevertheless, Paul has received 52.9% of his factors on clay — seventh greatest on the earth and simply the a lot of the American males. He has crushed three top-25 opponents in his previous two clay occasions and misplaced solely to Jack Draper and Jannik Sinner. Paul could be primed for a run.
Different People: Emma Navarro (+5000), Amanda Anisimova (+5000), Taylor Fritz (+6600), Danielle Collins (+6600), Sebastian Korda (+6600), Ben Shelton (+10000), Frances Tiafoe (+10000)
The unluckiest
Naomi Osaka
ESPN BET odds: +5000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 10 Paula Badosa (first spherical)
If you’re attempting to reestablish your rating after a tour absence, you want the luck of the draw. Naomi Osaka has not gotten that. Since returning to the tour in 2024, she has performed in 5 Slams and drawn top-20 opponents twice within the first spherical and twice within the second.
Osaka got here nearer than anybody to beating Iga Swiatek in Paris final yr however solely received second-round factors for it. She beat No. 20 Karolina Muchova within the Australian Open second spherical however needed to withdraw from the third with damage. And oh look: She drew Paula Badosa within the first spherical in Paris. Ugh. Osaka clearly has huge upside, and is 8-1 on clay this yr, however she’s nonetheless trying to find a Slam breakthrough.
The children
Jakub Mensik
ESPN BET odds: +5000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 9 Alex de Minaur (third spherical)
It is the Yr of the Teen, with 5 23-and-under males ranked within the prime 10 and eight within the prime 19. In Jannik Sinner’s absence, two of those gamers received 1000-level occasions: Jack Draper in Indian Wells and Jakub Mensik, a 6-foot-4, 19-year-old, in Miami. Mensik is highly effective and has received 5 of his previous seven matches on clay. On the very least, he ought to give Alex de Minaur a troublesome first-week take a look at. He may make Sinner work within the quarterfinals, too.
Marta Kostyuk
ESPN BET odds: +5000
First potential top-10 opponent: No. 5 Iga Swiatek (third spherical)
As an 18-year-old in 2021, Marta Kostyuk walloped former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza at Roland Garros on the way in which to the fourth spherical, the place she made Iga Swiatek work fairly a bit, too. She has received just one French Open match since, however is unbeaten on clay in 2025 in opposition to gamers not named Aryna Sabalenka. If nothing else, she may loom as a troublesome early take a look at for Swiatek.
Others: Arthur Fils (+5000), Diana Shnaider (+5000), Emma Raducanu (+5000), Joao Fonseca (+6600), Linda Noskova (+6600), Clara Tauson (+6600)
