Carlos Alcaraz arrives at Roland-Garros as the defending champion and the man to beat at the 2025 French Open. The 22-year-old Spaniard captured his first French Open title in 2024, and he is showing the same top-level form this clay-court season.
Alcaraz claimed his first career title in Monte-Carlo and followed it with a dominant win over current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner at the Italian Open. These victories gave him two of the three ATP Masters 1000 titles on clay this year. The only tournament he missed was Madrid, due to injury.
Now, Alcaraz faces the pressure of defending 2,000 ranking points from last year’s triumph. But if he succeeds, he could return to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time in 90 weeks. To do that, he must overtake Sinner, who has held the No. 1 spot for 50 straight weeks.
Sinner, who served a three-month doping suspension earlier this year, returned strongly with a run to the Rome final. Along the way, he delivered two dominant 6-0 sets against seeded players. The Italian already won the Australian Open this year and hopes to become the first Italian man to win in Paris since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Another key figure is Novak Djokovic, who returns to Roland-Garros for the first time since winning Olympic gold there nine months ago. The 24-time Grand Slam champion has had a rough 2025 season so far. He remains without a title and recently ended his coaching partnership with Andy Murray. Djokovic is playing the Geneva Open before heading to Paris, aiming to regain form on clay.
Also in the spotlight is world No. 3 Alexander Zverev. The German is hungry for redemption after losing to Alcaraz in last year’s final. French fans will be cheering on young Arthur Fils, a rising local talent hoping to make a deep run. Meanwhile, Norway’s Casper Ruud—twice a finalist at Roland-Garros—will be looking to finally take the last step.
With a packed field of contenders and high stakes on the line, the 2025 French Open promises an intense battle for the crown of clay.
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