Martina Navratilova has been looking ahead to the Roland Garros finals, before the tournament has even begun.
With the full French Open draw released earlier this week, there were a few key names who everyone instantly flocked to.
Who Rafael Nadal faced was unsurprisingly top priority, but after the initial shock of seeing his excruciating first-round clash with Alexander Zverev, attention then turned to the likes of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, as the favourites to go deep.
Well, despite all three suffering with their own separate issues, Navratilova still thinks that one of these will reach the final and win the whole thing.
Martina Navratilova predicts the men’s Roland Garros final
Speaking on the Tennis Channel, the 67-year-old sought to preview both sides of a stacked Roland Garros draw.
However, she subscribed to a similar theory that most who watch the sport have done at the moment, claiming that the women’s side is far easier to predict than the men’s.
Stating that she cannot look past Iga Swiatek for the title, unsurprisingly, when her attention turned to who might be clashing in the other final, her answer was far more unsure.
She eventually settled on one of the young superstars to claim the men’s crown, but her other finalist hinged solely on their first-round performance.
Navratilova claimed: ‘I have [to win the tournament] Sinner if he’s healthy. I think so. I think he’s due. Grew up on the stuff, he slides well, if his body holds up, he still has a tonne of confidence otherwise.
‘I think [he’ll beat] Zverev, if he gets through Rafa and not get too beat up.’
Jannik Sinner will thrive if he is injury-free
It is hard to argue with her pick, but it is very reliant on the fitness of Sinner.
However, that is the case for many of the favourites in this competition, with Alcaraz another who will be desperately hoping that his forearm issue does not flare up again in Paris.
Both of these young guns were forced to miss Rome due to their respective ailments, in a desperate attempt to regain fitness ahead of Roland Garros.
But with Sinner, before his hip injury forced him to retire from Madrid, there were few on the planet who could compete with him.
He already had three titles to his name, including the Australian Open, and had brushed aside the likes of Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas on clay, a hugely in-form Grigor Dimitrov and Alex de Minaur too.
Were he free from injury, the 22-year-old would be the clear favourite. So, Navratilova is coming from a place of sense, but also hope, that he can navigate the next two weeks with intelligence.
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