The French Open, known as Roland Garros to tennis fans, gets underway this weekend with some of the best in the business heading to Paris to try and crown themselves the king of clay. The city of light has been relatively overcast as far as the conditions are concerned. Novak Djokovic looks to retain his title in France despite sustaining a head injury after being hit by a bottle.
The news surrounding the defending champions has perhaps overshadowed some of the other hype for one of the most important Grand Slams on the tennis calendar. Indeed, the Serbian has said he dealt with nausea and dizzy spells after a bottle hit him on the head when signing autographs at the Italian Open, raising questions about his ability to perform come the start of Roland Garros.
“Today under high stress, it was quite bad,” Djokovic said during the post-match press conference. “Not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance. Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago.
“I don’t know. I have to do medical checkups and see what’s going on.”
His exit to Alejandro Talibo in the round of 32, as well as any underlying concerns of his condition, opens the window for other challengers to compete on the clay for a prize that has been so well guarded by the Serbian in years gone by.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the other favorites for the 2024 French Open and see who could claim Roland Garros aside from Djokovic.
Carlos Alcaraz
Let’s start with the Wimbledon winner and outright favorite to win the French Open, Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard made history in London last summer as he picked up the crown at just 21 years old. With thirteen ATP Tour-level singles titles already, he is looking at following in the footsteps of Spanish compatriot Rafael Nadal in becoming the next king of clay.
The issue for Alcaraz is a lingering elbow concern, and the question mark is about what shape he returns to the court. Will he be fully fit for the second Grand Slam of the year?
Jannik Sinner
Sinner has gone from a great talent to an absolute superstar in the span of a few months. After winning the Davis Cup, and reaching the final at the ATP Tour Finals, he made sure everyone was aware of his skillset when he captured the 2024 Australian Open, defying top Canadian online betting sites as he beat third seed Daniil Medvedev 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3 to win his first Grand Slam title and rise as high as number two in the world rankings. He has continued to shine throughout 2024 with titles in Rotterdam and Miami. However, he had to withdraw from the Rome Masters due to a hip injury and the word on the street is that he might not be fit to play at the French.
Rafael Nadal
Could it be one last dance for the king of clay? Injuries have hampered the twilight of the Spaniard’s time on the court, but there is still a chance that the experienced player with 22 Grand Slam titles to his name could live up to the billing one last time in Paris.
Despite succumbing to defeat against Hubert Hurkacz and sitting at 305 in the world ranking, there would be a certain romance about Nadal going the distance a month shy of celebrating his 38th birthday, and what place to do it other than the city of love?
We all hope he will show some of his best self at the Grand Slam where he has established himself as a legendary tennis player.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas is back in business after a year with so-so results. He won the Monte Carlo Masters and at the time of writing, he is in the semi-final of the Rome Masters. He has reached the French Open final before and was up 2-0 sets to Djokovic before the Serb came back and won in five sets.
Tsitsipas is in great shape and one of the strongest favorites for the French Open.
We should not forget about players like Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev, of course, these guys will be tough for anyone in the field and excellent competitors on clay. However, Tsitsipas seems to be in the best shape at the moment.
Also, special mention to Taylor Fritz, who has played his best year on clay and jokingly refers to himself as “Claylor”. Maybe he is an outsider, possibly not for winning the event, but for beating some of the best players.
Who do you think will win the second slam of the year?
