The Grand Slam circus convenes in Paris from tonight, almost four months on from Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning success at Melbourne Park, where he became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open.
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But the Spaniard is sadly missing with a wrist injury, which opens the door for Jannik Sinner to complete the career Grand Slam himself, while the women’s draw looks more open with a host of top contenders arriving with claims.
While the Aussie charge will be led by Alex de Minaur, who thankfully has found form again after a slump, shots are also being fired off the court with the player cohort filthy with the French Tennis Federation in a fight over cash.
There is much to discuss leading into the 2026 French Open, with foxsports.com.au on deck at Roland Garros and canvassing the Burning Questions.
CAN SINNER BE STOPPED?
It seems hard to believe given his recent dominance, but not too long ago Jannik Sinner was in a slump.
His Australian Open reign was ended by Novak Djokovic. A couple of weeks later he lost to young Czech Jakub Mensik in Doha. The pre-eminent hard court player in the world was suddenly beatable on the surface.
After the loss to Mensik, the question could be asked. What the hell was going on with the Italian champ?
He had always been metronomic in style, but he was so precise and powerful it did not matter. But suddenly he was looking a little one-dimensional, though admittedly that dimension was good enough for him to push deep into slams.
Was this a lull or had he been figured out? Three months on from that loss and the answer is that it was an aberration, for Sinner is back on top and in a big way.
He will start this Roland Garros a raging favourite having completed an unprecedented run of six straight titles at Masters level, starting with the Paris Masters last October and followed by triumphs at Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Monte Carlo and Madrid Masters and the Italian Open, the last five coming in the space of three months.
In clinching the Italian Open, he became just the second man after Djokovic to claim every Masters title – these lucrative tournaments are a step below the grand slams and the highest tiered events on the regular tour.
Sinner completes Golden Masters | 01:39
That run of mastery, combined with the absence of defending champion Alcaraz with a serious wrist injury and queries regarding the other contenders (if there are any) stamps him as the standout in Paris.
If successful, he will join Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Alcaraz as the only men in the Open era to complete a career Grand Slam.
Alcaraz set a new record when competing the deed in Melbourne aged just 22. But Sinner’s deed to win every major and Masters aged 24 Is incredible as well.
So what has changed? After his loss to Alcaraz in New York, Sinner conceded he needed to be more unpredictable and he has worked on that.
There are more shades to the way he smacks the ball and more flourishes as well. When he beat Alcaraz in the final in Monte Carlo, he hit more drops shots than the Spaniard, who sadly played just one more match in Barcelona before pulling the pin. On a side note, Alcaraz will miss Wimbledon as well.
Sinner’s serve is also superb. His precision is just about unparalleled in that regard as well and, when matched with every other aspect of his game, his serve has been nigh on unbreakable during his recent reign of dominance.
Can he beaten in Paris? It would be an almighty upset on current form and former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev said it was “super tough”.
“Actually, any match that we saw even this year, because I think he lost only two, the only way to beat him, you need to be at your best for all four, five sets,” he said, as reported by The Guardian.
“You need to run, be strong, to serve well, to return well. Everything needs to be on the top level, because him, his game is everything at the top level.”
But he has never won Roland Garros.
Over five sets in hot conditions – the start of the tournament will be warm – he has been vulnerable, as witnessed in Melbourne in January. And the first week shapes as particularly warm in the French capital.
Upsets can occur on court and off it as well. The Swede Robin Soderling once blasted Nadal out of Roland Garros by gambling on any 50-50 chance and going for broke. It might take a similar effort against Sinner.
Sinner steamrolls Popyrin | 00:59
WHO CAN STOP HIM?
Anyone can have an off day and with champions the calibre of Djokovic in Paris, it remains an intriguing event.
No-one in the field knows better than Djokovic how hard it is to win at Roland Garros, and with good reason.
He and Stan Wawrinka are the only former Roland Garros champions in the men’s draw and Djokovic is also the only man to beat Alcaraz at the venue in the past two years, having done so to win the Paris Olympics back in 2024.
Since Djokovic won his 24th grand slam at the US Open in 2023, Sinner and Alcaraz have shared the major spoils between them, in the process setting new marks with the frequency he once did.
Though to be fair to Novak, he continues to do so as well when it comes to age-related feats.
He played brilliantly to edge Sinner in five sets at Melbourne Park in January, only to run into an irresistible force in Alcaraz. But he will be mindful of a very important fact on either side of the English Channel over the next six weeks – he only has to beat one top gun, not two.
Novak Djokovic looks relaxed while celebrating his 39th birthday in Paris on Friday and shapes as the major threat to Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros. (Photo by Antoine Flament/Getty Images for Lacoste)Source: Getty Images
Back when the Big Three ruled the world, their rivals would lament that while it might be possible to oust one of them, beating two of the big guns in a row was almost impossible and as for three?
Andy Murray was a beast but managed to win only three majors, so too the retiring Stan Wawrinka, during their reign.
But in the short term in Paris and London, only Sinner will be around. And while it took an almighty effort to beat the Italian in Melbourne, he did the deed. Djokovic will believe in himself.
The challenge is that he has scarcely played any tennis since the Australian Open and fell early in the Italian Open when beaten by Dino Prizmic. He has always been able to work into form but rivals will be gunning for him.
Should something astonishing happen to the big guns, Alexander Zverev is the man most likely to breakthrough but the German has always been that figure.
He is an outstanding player and has reached major finals in Melbourne, at Roland Garros and in New York, but is yet to figure out how to win a big one.
The French will be cheering on the brilliant Arthur Fils, who is a phenomenal player to watch in full flourish, but it would surprise if the champion is anyone but the Italian.
De Minaur and Djokovic go down in Italy | 01:19
WHAT ABOUT THE YOUNG GUNS?
At the start of the Australian summer there is a niche event keen observers watch closely with an eye to the future. And it is not the United Cup.
Rather it is a Challenger event held in Canberra which tends to throw up talents set to prosper in coming years. This year’s decider looks likely to age nicely given the talent the combatants showed in the ACT that day and in the months since.
There is scarcely a hotter property in tennis than the new Rafa from Spain, a powerhouse hitter named Rafael Jodar.
He shares the same first name and nationality as the legend and also a high level of skill.
The right-hander – that is just one of the differences – reached the decider in Canberra back in January and has gone on to bigger and better things since.
Over the clay court swing where Sinner cemented himself as the man to beat in Paris, Jodar was exciting all comers with a string of wins over top flight rivals including Alex de Minaur, who he thrashed in Madrid.
Within a handful of months on tour, he is already seeded at a major, and few will fancy playing him.
Joao Fonseca is more established and has demonstrated in recent weeks that he has overcome the fitness issues which hindered him badly during his visit to Australia back in January.
He has played both Alcaraz and Sinner in recent months and acquitted himself well. The hype surrounding the Brazilian, who is also seeded, is legitimate.
And lookout for Alexander Blockx, the Belgian who won in Canberra, as well.
De Minaur certainly will be given he shapes as a possible second round opponent. The Aussie barely scraped past the 21-year-old when they met in Monte Carlo and the right-hander subsequently reached the semi-finals in the Madrid Masters.
He is among the rising talents who shape as challengers to the status quo of Sinner and Alcaraz in years to come.
CAN COCO DEFEND?
The answer to that question regarding reigning champion Coco Gauff is yes and yes, for she is in decent form and no-one covers the court or defends as well in women’s tennis as the American, who has done so much yet is still only 22-years-old.
If the men’s edition looks as close to a closed shop as is imaginable in a grand slam, it is a different case in the women’s ranks with several elite players arriving at Roland Garros with legitimate claims.
For the first time in years, there is no standout deserving of clear favouritism.
Throughout Iga Swiatek’s rise to the top, picking the Polish star to win Roland Garros was almost as likely as choosing Nadal to win the men’s. But the four-time champion’s dominance has rescinded and for all her quality on clay, her peers know that she can be beaten on the surface.
The Polish champion had an unusual 2025. She was beaten in Paris, but then went to the All England Club and not only won Wimbledon for the first time, but did so in startling fashion with a 6-0 6-0 triumph over Amanda Anisimova.
But that did not signal a bounce back to the top and Swiatek has tried everything to rediscover her range.
She has hired and fired coaches, spent time at Nadal’s academy and even hit the court with her idol. There were flashes of brilliance through the clay season but she arrives in Paris without having claimed one of the major lead-ins.
Defending champion Coco Gauff, pictured at the Roland Garros draw with tournament director and former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo on Thursday, shapes as a leading contender again in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)Source: AP
Gauff fell in the final of Roland Garros to Swiatek when a teenager and then produced a gritty, smart performance to clinch the title last year when too tough for world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in tricky conditions.
The American’s form has been strong without being outstanding through the clay season, with her most recent effort a loss in the final to the enduring Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
She arrives in Paris with the mindset that this is an open tournament, not that she is the defending champion.
“I realise that the ‘defending’ means nothing in a way. I don’t really look at it as defending anymore,” she said after the loss in Rome.
“At the US Open (back in 2024), I was like, ‘I need to defend, defend.’ When you are playing in a tournament that you didn’t win, what is it called?
“That’s why I just say now that it is another tournament. I’m not going to be able to defend every year. I’m not Rafa.”
The Australian Open finalists Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina shapes as the other obvious candidates given their major winning credentials and each have had moments on clay throughout the European swing.
They also have the tools to win, even if the surface does negate their weaponry to an extent.
The mental challenge of not being able to hit through opponents with as much ease as they can on hardcourt is something to overcome, but if they are on song deep in the tournament, the title will almost certainly be on their racquets.
Sabalenka & Gauff cruise through | 01:08
WHAT ABOUT THE AUSSIES?
Roland Garros marks the main draw debut of former world No.1 junior Emerson Jones, and what an extraordinary experience it will be given she is pitted against Swiatek in a match certain to be played on a stadium court.
The young Queenslander is in the transition phase of her career and has shown enough in her outings on the WTA Tour and in majors to suggest she can become a regular, but this is another step on the learning curve for her.
De Minaur, the No.8 seed, shoulders the load for the dozen Aussies in the field and while it has not been the smoothest of preparations, thankfully the Aussie star regained good form in Hamburg this week after an uncharacteristic run of outs.
A Roland Garros quarterfinalist two years ago, the 27-year-old reached the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo to start the clay swing after a lean run at Indian Wells and in Miami, only to hit the skids with three straight losses in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
Alex de Minaur returned to form in Hamburg this week with three good wins over quality clay court rivals before falling in three sets to American star Tommy Paul in a semi-final. (Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
It prompted him to break a pattern of not playing the week before a major in order to build match fitness and regain confidence, something de Minaur managed to do when reaching the semi-finals.
A quarterfinalist at the Australian Open and a champion in Rotterdam in February, de Minaur has not been as consistent this season, but if he can cap the clay season with a run to the second week at the very least, the first half of the year can be considered a success.
Alexei Popyrin has endured a difficult season but he, too, found some form in Geneva when stringing together a couple of wins, including a triumph over top American Taylor Fritz, before falling to former Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud. He will hope to carry that momentum into a major.
On form, Daria Kasatkina looks the pick of the nation’s women. The former Roland Garros semi-finalist has missed a significant chunk of the season through
Injury but has returned in good form, following a win in Catalonia with another good run in Strasbourg this week.
Demon’s WILD match point seals win | 02:52
WHY ARE SPARKS FLYING BEYOND THE BASELINE
The off-court scuttlebutt leading into the Australian Open was significant with questions about the future of Craig Tiley amid revelations Tennis Australia had settled an ongoing lawsuit with the Professional Tennis Players Association.
But those discussions pale in comparison to the skulduggery that has unfolded in the weeks leading into Roland Garros. And it all comes down to money. The players want more of it and are chasing 22 per cent of revenue.
While the AO has upped its game, RG went the other way with a marginal decline in the prize money versus revenue equation, which prompted Sabalenka to pose the prospect of a boycott at some stage in the future.
Ultimately, the players resolved to follow the letter of the law when it comes to pre-tournament press conferences, which say they must complete a 15 minute chat to avoid being penalised.
Players usually offer up to 90 minutes for interviews with broadcasters and written press, photo shoots and social media games. But this year they split their time between a 10-minute press conference and five minutes with the host broadcaster, with the 15-minutes symbolic for the 15 per cent of revenue this year’s prize money pool represents.
“I feel like the whole point here, it’s not about me,” Sabalenka said.
“It’s about the players who are lower in the ranking, who are suffering. It’s not easy to live in this tennis world with that percentage that we are earning.
“As the world No 1, I feel like I have to stand up and to fight for those players, for lower-level players, for players who are coming back after injuries, the upcoming generation. I feel like our point is pretty clear and pretty fair to everyone. That’s what we are all about.”
That is not the only kerfuffle.
The PTPA issued a legal challenge to Wimbledon and RG regarding the decision to deny them credentials as the matter that TA settled, which angered the other slams, continues in a New York courtroom amid ugly scenes.
They were denied their bid late last week, though the presiding judge did note that RG and Wimbledon appeared petty.
Back in Australia, Tiley is gone and is soon to begin his new role with the US Tennis Association, but he was back in Victoria last week attending a TA conference at a time the body is yet to confirm who his replacement is.
The long-running process and Tiley’s involvement at a time he is employed by a rival organisation has raised eyebrows among former Aussie stars. A decision on the replacement is expected by the end of Roland Garros.
Meanwhile, De Minaur and other top Aussie men have called on TA to find a role for ex-Davis Cup representative Sam Groth in a role with “genuine authority and accountability” that includes player engagement and high performance, The Age reported.