The 2026 French Open has been one of the most shocking Grand Slams in recent memory.
Across both the men’s and women’s tournaments, there have been countless shocks, with several top players bowing out in the early stages.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic crashed out in the second and third rounds, respectively, while none of Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina made it past round four.
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Their exits have allowed new Grand Slam champions to be crowned in both singles competitions.
However, former American players Sam Querrey and John Isner agree that the quality of the tournament’s business end has suffered as a result.
Sam Querrey and John Isner reflect on the 2026 French Open
On the ‘Nothing Major‘ podcast, Querrey said: “I want to talk bigger picture about Roland Garros.
“As exciting as week one was with the Sinner match, the Djokovic vs Fonseca match. People always love the upsets until what comes the other side of an upset. The last two days sucked.
“These matches were not that exciting. Not that we did not have exciting players, but the tournament has just not been that fun the last three days.”
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Isner replied: “The weather has not made for good tennis. It has just been kind of ugly and choppy out there and the matches have kind of sucked.
“As far as Grand Slam and late in Grand Slam matches can go, these guys and women are incredible, but it’s not what we are accustomed to seeing in the last 10 Grand Slams or something! The matches were not drama-filled.”
History to be made in the men’s Roland Garros final
Since 2005, men’s singles Grand Slams have been dominated by the ‘big three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, as well as the ‘new two’ of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Between the 2005 French Open and now, only six players outside of the above group have been able to capture a major title: Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev.
Now, a seventh player will be added to that list, and it is set to be either Alexander Zverev or Flavio Cobolli.
Zverev has come up short in each of his three previous appearances in major finals, the most recent of which came at the 2025 Australian Open.
Cobolli, on the other hand, has never been in the championship match of a Grand Slam, with his best previous results being a quarterfinal finish at Wimbledon last season.
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