The French Open is the biggest clay event and also the second Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. The two-time defending champion and world #2 Carlos Alcaraz won’t be in Paris to defend his title due to wrist injury he suffered in the Barcelona Open. Alcaraz won last year’s tournament after defeating Jannik Sinner in 5 hours 29 minutes, which was the longest final in Roland Garros history.
Jannik Sinner is the huge favourite to win the title in Paris this year due to his incredible form after winning every clay event he has played so far in 2026 and with the absence of Alcaraz it looks even more likely.
Who are the Top seeds at Roland Garros?
World #1 Jannik Sinner is the huge favourite to win his first title and put the disappointment of 2025 behind him. He will be the number one seed and Alexander Zverev comes in as the number two seed following the absence of Carlos Alcaraz. He is followed by three-time winner Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton, Daniel Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Alexander Bublik and Flavio Cobolli makes the top 10 seeds.
Here is the full list of the top 15 seeds.
1. Jannik Sinner (ITA)
2. Alexander Zverev (GER)
3. Novak Djokovic (SRB)
4. Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
5. Ben Shelton (USA)
6. Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
7. Taylor Fritz (USA)
8. Alex de Minaur (AUS)
9. Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
10. Flavio Cobolli (ITA)
11. Andrey Rublev (RUS)
12. Jiří Lehečka (CZE)
13. Karen Khachanov (RUS)
14. Luciano Darderi (ITA)
15. Casper Ruud (NOR)
Who are the favourites?
Sinner definitely the huge favourite to win the title in the absence of Alcaraz. Sinner has won all the clay titles he has participated this year so he is in the best form of his life. That said, a number of other players come into the French Open in form.
Tommy Paul won his first title on clay after saving 3 championship points to wi the title in Houston. Ben Shelton won his second clay title in Munich this year and also Mariano Navone won in Bucharest (Tiriac Open). Many players have also enjoyed success on the the clay surface with notable mentions like Francisco Cerúndolo, Tomás Martín Etcheverry, and Luciano Darderi.
Jannik Sinner
He has never won the title and would be looking to put his devastating loss to Alcaraz in the 2025 final behind him. Sinner’s two biggest achievements in the French Open is reaching the semifinals in 2024 and the final in 2025 in which he lost both to eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz.
He has swept all the masters clay events so far in 2026 (Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome). Sinner became the second player ever to achieve this in one season (after Nadal). The Italian has a 100% win rate on clay this year with 17 wins, 0 losses. This make him the huge favourite to win the titles.
Alexander Zverev
He has 38–10 (79% win rate) in 10 main draw appearances (through 2025). The German is a consistent performer in Paris. He has reached three quarterfinals and three semifinals and his best performance came in 2024 when he lost the finals to Carlos Alcaraz
Alexander Zverev’s 2026 clay court record is 13–4 (76.5% win rate). The German has overall 2026 record: 28–9 (75.7%) with 13 wins and four losses. He reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo and Munich, he was a runner-up in Madrid after Sinner defeated him.
Novak Djokovic
He has won the French Open titles (2016, 2021, 2023) and finished as runner-up in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2020. Novak Djokovic is not the force he once was but he has over 100 match wins at the tournament. In other words, he is not to be underestimated.
He has a good overall clay record with 295 wins and 73 losses (80.2% win rate) through May 2026. The Serbian has 86% win rate in the French Open with 101 wins and 17 loses.
He has zero clay-court wins in 2026 heading into Roland Garros due to the withdrawal from tournament mainly because of injury problems.
His only match came in the Lost in the second round against qualifier Dino Prizmić.
Casper Ruud
He is a two-time finalist in 2022 and 2023. He lost both finals to Novak Djokovic. Ruud is first Norwegian man to reach a Grand Slam final.
The Norwegian has had a strong 2026 clay season overall so far with a huge Rome Open showing by making it all the way and lost to Jannik Sinner.
He has a clay win-loss: Approximately 10–3 to 13–4 and around 77% win rate on clay this year. Ruud boost of 74% win rate historically, 12+ titles on the surface, multiple Roland Garros finals.
VERDICT: Jannik Sinner is the strong favourite to win the title at Roland Garros.
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
