After Jannik Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open, could Roland Garros serve up another first-time major champion in men's singles? With Stefanos Tsitsipas (Monte Carlo), Andrey Rublev (Madrid) and Alexander Zverev (Rome) winning the ATP Tour's biggest titles on the European clay swing—and uncertainty surrounding favorites Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal and Sinner—opportunity is ripe for a new Grand Slam titlist in Paris.
Casper Ruud, a Roland Garros finalist in each of the past two years, has also enjoyed a successful clay season with a Barcelona title and Monte Carlo runner-up finish.
"Obviously you have players coming into the tournament with confidence, which is important when you're playing tennis," the Norwegian said this week in Geneva. "Zverev may be the one with the most confidence since he won in Rome. I also have had very good results at the beginning of the clay season and hopefully I can find back my best form in Geneva and bring it into Paris.
"Yes, it's a big chance, but you have other players as well who will be a very big threat. Alcaraz and Sinner if healthy will be big threats and also Novak, he's still in my eyes up there as one of the top favorites even if this year hasn't gone maybe the way he wanted so far. He's still the one who won the most in the Slams."
With Alcaraz (forearm) and Sinner (hip) both missing Rome, and Djokovic losing early, Zverev took full advantage with a dominant title run. He lost just one set in six victories—to Alejandro Tabilo in the semis—and emphatically sealed the trophy with an untouchable serving performance against Nicolas Jarry in the final. The German lost just two first-serve points in the title match (37/39) and did not face a break point in a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
That peak performance earned him his first ATP Masters 1000 crown since the gruesome ankle injury he suffered at Roland Garros in 2022, when he was giving eventual champion Nadal all he could handle in what was already an epic semifinal before its abrupt end late in the second set.
"This one is special in its own way because it proves to me that I can win these kinds of tournaments again," said Zverev, who won smaller titles in Hamburg and Chengdu last season. "I'm at the level where I want to be. Moving forward, I can dream again. This is what this week brings me."
That week also brought Zverev a new ATP ranking of world No. 4, which will earn him a top four seed at Roland Garros—affording him the luxury of avoiding Djokovic, Sinner or Alcaraz until the semifinals. But the 27-year-old is less worried about his opponents and more concerned with bringing his Rome form into the year's second major.
"I've said it many times before, and I'm going to say it again: I'm somebody that I know when I don't play well, I can lose to anyone, but when I play well, I know I can beat anyone,” said the former world No. 2. “That's my mindset. That's how I think about it.
"I know I have to focus on myself, to find my rhythm in Paris the way I did here. Then everything is on my own racquet."
Zverev has reached the semifinals each of the past three years at Roland Garros, along with two quarterfinals runs before that in 2018 and 2019. Tsitsipas has progressed to the quarters or beyond three times, including a runner-up finish in 2021 when he was two sets up against Djokovic in the final. Rublev's best Paris runs came in quarterfinal showings in 2020 and 2022.
In perhaps the most open men's singles Grand Slam since the 2020 US Open—when Dominic Thiem edged Zverev to win his first major title in an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium—can any of these stars go from challenger to champion at the game's highest level?
