A big opportunity has presented itself for the rest of the ATP Tour after Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from Roland Garros.
Alcaraz pulled out of the French Open due to an ongoing wrist injury he sustained during the Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard was bidding to three-peat at this year’s edition of the Grand Slam, following his remarkable comeback in the 2025 final against Jannik Sinner.
His withdrawal has left Sinner with a favourable path to both a maiden Roland Garros title and the Career Grand Slam.
Can any of these four players stop Jannik Sinner winning the French Open this year?
Is there anyone else you think could be a threat to Sinner?
But it is not a foregone conclusion for the Italian, and former US Open champion Marin Cilic suggested there are two stars who can give him a run for his money.
Marin Cilic discusses Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Roland Garros
Asked in an interview with Tennis Channel if Alcaraz‘s withdrawal opens up the French Open draw, Cilic replied: “Yeah, absolutely.
“Because, you know, you can’t hide from the fact that Jannik and Carlos were dominating the game in the last, whatever, 18 months.
“And now, from him being on the sidelines, obviously, it’s a bigger motivation for Jannik to try to win the only missing Slam in his cabinet and for the rest of the guys as well.
Is men’s tennis boring without Carlos Alcaraz?
“You can also see Zverev is being really consistent now, playing in the final of Madrid. He’s giving himself enough chances. If he’s gonna take it, you know, you never know, but he’s playing great tennis.
“You know, you always have a few guys that are playing unbelievably on clay, like Casper Ruud, he always loves those Roland Garros court conditions. Yeah, we’ll see, you know, just, from my own end, I’ll try to get back in there.”
Active players who have made the French Open final before
Outside of Alcaraz and Sinner, only four active players on the ATP Tour have been in a French Open final before.
Stan Wawrinka, set to retire at the end of this year, has been in two and emerged victorious in the 2015 edition.
While the Swiss may not have a great chance of winning the tournament this year, fellow ATP veteran Novak Djokovic certainly does.
Djokovic has won the French Open three times, having clinched the title for the first time in 2016.
The only other two players who have managed the feat are Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas was denied in the 2021 final by Djokovic, and Ruud made back-to-back title bouts in 2022 and 2023, but fell to Rafael Nadal and the Serb, respectively.
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