On the face of it, it’s a bit weird that Jannik Sinner is still the top-ranked player in the world despite not playing for three months due to a doping suspension. The Italian sits atop the ATP rankings with 10,380 points, while Carlos Alcaraz is at No. 2 with 8,850 points and Alexander Zverev at No. 3 with 7,285 points. The ATP ranking, though, doesn’t make Sinner the top favourite to win the French Open and there’s a reason.
Here are the top three favourites for the second Grand Slam event of the year…
Carlos Alcaraz
Ranking points can be misleading in a tennis rivalry and Alcaraz’s complete dominance over Sinner attests that. The Spaniard is the defending French Open champion, and he has beaten Sinner four times over the last four meetings, including two clay-court face-offs. The five-set semi-final between the two players in last year’s French Open was a classic. More recently, in Rome, Alcaraz got the better of Sinner 7-6, 6-1. The 22-year-old comes to Paris in top form, boasting a 15-1 win-loss record on clay this year. The title would be his to lose.
“Alcaraz is the favourite to defend his title to win his fifth major,” Pam Shriver, former top-ranked doubles player on the WTA circuit, told ESPN. “Alcaraz has been making smarter tactical decisions on the court as he matures. His fitness seems to be peaking too.”
Jannik Sinner
He is still in the process of getting back to his peak after the lay-off, but Sinner is too talented a player not to give his nearest rival a run for his money. In fact, Sinner probably has a better all-round game than Alcaraz, but he is yet to have that X-factor as far as clay-court tennis is concerned. The 23-year-old, however, will take a lot of heart from the way he decimated Casper Ruud in Rome – 6-0, 6-1. There’s a tantalising possibility that the French Open might see the first Alcaraz versus Sinner final in a major.
Novak Djokovic
Can the master win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title at the French Open? He has been chasing it for years now, but the younger generation is ruling the roost at the moment. Also, the 38-year-old didn’t have a good start to 2025. He retired from his semi-final clash against Zverev at the Australian Open and then took a month-long break. Djokovic was struggling to get into the groove after his return, but winning the Geneva Open – his 100th career title – just before Roland Garros might initiate a turnaround.
Alexander Zverev (dark horse)
Despite his obvious talent, Zverev hasn’t won a Grand Slam title yet. Recently, Rafael Nadal spoke about it, asking the 28-year-old to be in the right headspace. “Zverev is an impressive player, but he hasn’t yet managed to win a Grand Slam,” Nadal told L’Equipe. “Unfortunately, I think it’s all in his head, because given his level of tennis, he should have won one by now.”
Zverev is a three-time Grand Slam finalist. Can he go all the way at the French Open? The next couple of weeks are going to be interesting.
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