Jim Courier is ‘shocked’ by what Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz are planning to do before the French Open

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The 2025 French Open is now just a few weeks away as the stars of the ATP Tour ramp up their preparations for the second Grand Slam of the year.

Rome is the current stop on the journey to Paris for the French Open, which begins later this month.

Seven of the world’s top ten players advanced to the last 16 of this year’s Italian Open, which is for many the final tournament before Roland Garros.

However, in a change from tradition, that won’t be the case for everyone, as several top ATP stars have signed up for tournaments the week before the French Open.

24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will play in Geneva, and so will some of his biggest rivals.

When asked about the players’ schedules, former world number one Jim Courier revealed that he was ‘shocked’.

Jim Courier is ‘shocked’ by Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Taylor Fritz’s French Open preparations

Speaking on the Tennis Channel, Courier shared his thoughts on the decision of top players to play tournaments in Geneva and Hamburg ahead of the French Open.

“With someone like [Jannik] Sinner, there is a lot of insurance at play,” he said.

“For [Novak] Djokovic, he needs the matches because he has not played, and he is going to try and do what he did last year, which is get two or three matches and maybe try and pull the cord with a little bit of match toughness.

“But I am really shocked honestly, to see some of the names on here.”

13 top 20 players will be in action next week, six of whom are currently ranked inside the top ten.

Courier explained why some players will have chosen to play in Geneva and Hamburg in 2025.

“Let’s set the table, these tournaments can pay appearance fees so some of these players will have accepted a big guarantee, I am talking hundreds of thousands of dollars just to show up and play and they don’t have to win a match to get that money, so there is some commercial aspect to this,” he said.

“But the serious players who think they are going to win Roland Garros or challenge for Roland Garros, they do not play these tournaments.

“One thing that is different this year, and this is the only time I have seen this, is that there is an ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg, which has been put into this section.

“That does not happen before Wimbledon or Australia. It does not happen before the US Open. There are [ATP] 250 tournaments around which you just don’t see the top players playing.”

The American then outlined the details of the new ATP 500 ‘bonus pool’, which may have impacted players’ decisions.

“There is a new bonus pool for ATP 500 this year. Six players who play at least four of these ATP 500 tournaments will share $3 million in extra money, so there are substantial financial benefits for players to play who are in that conversation,” said Courier.

“So there is a lot that goes into this. But one thing which I know is that there is no amount of appearance money or bonus money that can replicate the kind of money you make if you win Roland Garros.

• 2025 French Open winner prize money – $2.8 million
• 2025 Hamburg Open winner prize money – $440,000
• 2025 Geneva Open winner prize money – $275,000

“So be careful what you wish for. If you are going for the easy grab, you might miss out on the life-changing generational wealth that sits at the end of these tournaments.

2003 US Open champion, Andy Roddick, agreed with Courier for the most part and shared whether he would’ve scheduled a warm-up tournament before the French Open during his playing days.

“Sinner, this is an insurance entry, in my opinion. I don’t know if Jim [Courier] thinks he has already done enough getting two matches, even three matches guaranteed going into Roland Garros. We will see,” said Roddick.

“Taylor [Fritz] wants to play the week before. Novak, taking a wildcard, he had to have some matches.

“What will be interesting, is is a guy like Casper Ruud looking for more matches? Is a guy like Lorenzo Musetti looking for more matches the week before?

“When I was playing, if I had gotten in the semis of Madrid and quarters of Rome, I was good to go. I wanted to get to Roland Garros and get prepared.”

How did players who participated in warm-up tournaments perform at the 2024 French Open?

Courier is worried that players who travel to Geneva and Hamburg could be risking their chance at French Open glory, but what happened last year?

Geneva and Lyon were the two pre-French Open destinations in 2024, where seven top 20 players made the trip.

None of the seven went on to win the title in Paris, although that’s not to say some didn’t enjoy strong tournaments.

2024 Geneva Open champion, Ruud, qualified for the French Open semi-finals, but came up short against Alexander Zverev in four sets.

Only time will tell if the likes of Ruud, Sinner, and Djokovic will be able to perform at both their warm-up tournaments and the French Open in 2025.

The Geneva Open and Hamburg Open are scheduled to begin on May 19, before the French Open gets underway on Sunday, May 25.