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Good morning! We hope your day is a grand slam. Inside:

Slam: Making sense of an Alcaraz-less French Open

The French Open will not come down to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. At least probably not, given that the tournament starts today at Roland Garros and Alcaraz is not in the draw because of a dreaded wrist injury. You can never be too sure, though.

Without the two-time defending champion, there’s a clear lane for his chief rival. The 24-year-old Sinner will complete the career Grand Slam if he takes care of business against a weakened field. Last year, he lost to Alcaraz in a final for the ages. There’s also the possibility of Novak Djokovic adding to his record 24 Slam titles, at a time in his career when that had been looking unlikely through no fault of his own. (Djokovic upset Sinner in an Australian Open semifinal over the winter, but was so drained by the experience that Alcaraz had little trouble with him.) With Djokovic having just turned 39, any event without one of Alcaraz or Sinner is one of his best remaining shots. More on that in a moment.

The women’s draw is a lot more open, with Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka entering as roughly co-favorites. The last five Slams have yielded five different winners, all of whom are varying degrees of in the mix. American Coco Gauff is back to defend her title, which she won in an incredibly intense three-setter against Sabalenka. All of these women are involved in a protest push to increase women’s prize money at the Slams, by the way.

What does an expert find most compelling this month? Let’s tag in Matthew Futterman, the award-winning tennis journalist covering the event for The Athletic.

First, on the men’s side: What’s the likeliest scenario you can devise in which someone not named Sinner wins the men’s side? Would he have to get sick?

💬 Two words: Novak Djokovic. I know, he turned 39 Friday and he hasn’t played much the past two months. But he’s an outrageously good clay court player who beat a good version of Nadal here and has won Roland Garros three times. He beat Sinner in their last meeting in Australia. Djokovic has a pretty stress-free draw. If he’s healthy, watch out.

In the much less predictable women’s bracket, which storyline interests you most, personally?

💬 The evolution of Coco Gauff. She won this title last year and then her career went into something of a tailspin. She’s remade her serve and tried to bulletproof her wobbly forehand. She’s rounding into form and is magical on clay because of her defense. A rematch with last year’s finalist, world no. 1, Sabalenka, who desperately wants to win a non-hard court Grand Slam title, would be dreamy.

Thanks to Matthew. Strap in between now and the tournament’s end on June 7.

News to Know

Jason Miller / Getty Images

Knicks-Cavs is looking sweepy

The Knicks are on the verge of their first NBA Finals in 27 years after a 121-108 Game 3 victory in Cleveland, where home support and a certain famous couple didn’t make the Cavs seem any less shell-shocked from their Game 1 collapse. Here’s your regular reminder that no NBA team has ever blown a 3-0 lead. Takeaways here.

The NHL conference finals meanwhile served up a thriller, with favorites Carolina blowing a third-period lead against Montreal and staring down a familiar narrative until Nikolaj Ehlers fired home the OT winner. It was Ehlers’ second — his first was filthy:

Full U.S. World Cup squad revealed

Sources confirmed the entire USMNT roster yesterday, with a couple of surprises. (Make of it what you will that this leaked out fully three days ahead of a nationally televised announcement ceremony.) The big stunner is the omission of midfielder Tanner Tessmann, a regular starter for Lyon who many had penciled into the first XI. See the whole squad here.

More News
Kyle Busch died of severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, his family said. Full story here.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards explained why he dapped up the Spurs bench with eight minutes left in Game 6 of the conference semis.
One of this week’s new college grads is 39-time Grand Slam title winner Billie Jean King. Fun read.
Giants linebacker Abdul Carter wasn’t impressed after teammate Jaxson Dart introduced President Donald Trump at a rally, but later said there was no beef.
A disputed 11th-round stoppage may have saved heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk his first defeat — against a career kickboxer in his second pro boxing fight, no less.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Champs: Barca wins Women’s Champions League

The final was way more competitive than its 4-0 scoreline implies, given Lyon had the better first half before both Ewa Pajor and Salma Paralluelo scored twice for Barcelona in the second. The latter’s 90th-minute dagger was a thing of beauty:

It’s redemption for Pajor, who’d come up short in five finals. Read more here.

Watch Guide

📺 Soccer: Premier League’s final day
11 a.m. ET on NBC/Peacock/USA
The drama is at the bottom of the table, where one of Tottenham (vs. Everton on NBC/Peacock) or West Ham (vs. Leeds on USA) will suffer a shock relegation for clubs of their stature. The Hammers need a win and a Spurs loss. The implications are enormous.

📺 Lacrosse: Women’s NCAA championship
Northwestern vs. North Carolina
12 p.m. ET on ESPN
It’s a rematch of last year’s title game, which the Tar Heels won. This one is Northwestern’s fourth title-game appearance in a row, but the Wildcats now have the distinction of being the first team to host the championship game since Princeton did it (and lost) in 2004.

📺 Racing: Indianapolis 500
12:45 p.m. ET on Fox
My kind of pre-race story: “Mick Schumacher swapped F1 for the Indy 500. But first, he milked a cow.” Rundown of the field and race day here. Also, bear in mind that the whole racing world, IndyCar very much included, will still be reeling this weekend from the death of Kyle Busch.

📺 NBA: Thunder at Spurs, Game 4
8 p.m. ET on NBC
The Western Conference Finals roll on in San Antonio, with OKC up 2-1. Whether this series becomes a classic probably hinges on the Spurs’ ability to bounce back tonight.

📺 NHL: Avalanche at Golden Knights, Game 3
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Vegas is up 2-0, and the Avs have problems that go well beyond the injury absence of their franchise defenseman, Cale Makar.

Get tickets to games like this here.

Pulse Picks

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Most-shared by Athletic readers this week:

Roger Federer’s commencement speech wasn’t just a viral moment. It was masterful
Montreal strippers call for strike during Canadian GP weekend
“Toxic” to title: Inside Arsenal’s first Premier League for 22 years and how they nailed their “win window”
Pep Guardiola to leave Man City this summer, Enzo Maresca expected as successor
Teen umpire Jameson Morris tossed a baseball coach in a now-viral video. Here’s his story

Make time for Steve Buckley’s poignant column on the final lessons from NASCAR’s Kyle Busch and longtime Associated Press sports reporter Howard Fendrich, who both died this week.

I felt equal panic/excitement watching Netflix’s “East of Eden” teaser featuring Florence Pugh. Will it plumb the riches of John Steinbeck’s original (one of my all-time faves!)? Or will it be a total bust?? No middle ground!!! Anyways, my actual rec is: Let’s read (or reread) “East of Eden” before the show drops this fall! — Hannah Vanbiber

Here’s a special piece from Jared Weiss, who takes us inside his season covering Victor Wembanyama — with insights on the generational star’s mind, body, heart and soul.

How did a physical therapist in Michigan break the news of a contract extension for one of the NFL’s best young talents? This rules. — Dan Steinberg

The humble hot dog is the mainstay of summertime BBQs. For Wirecutter’s brand-new guide, I taste-tested 31 to crown the best hot dogs — each snappy, plump and downright delicious. — Kathleen Squires

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Early USMNT roster news.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.