As the tennis tour approaches the business end of the Italian Open all attention will soon turn to the second Grand Slam of the year – Roland Garros.
Throughout the clay-court season the players have been battling to win the various titles on offer and play themselves into contention to triumph in the French capital.
Since 2005, 14-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal and reigning champion Novak Djokovic have won each edition of the event with the exceptions of 2009 and 2015, when Swiss duo Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka triumphed.
But with the Spaniard now winding down his illustrious career and the World Number One yet to win a title this season, the chance of a new player etching their name into the clay major’s history has increased exponentially.
Therefore, The Tennis Gazette will study three players who are top contenders to not only win the French Open for the first time, but their first Grand Slam overall.
Three ATP players who can win their first Grand Slam at Roland Garros
Stefanos Tsitsipas
A player who is always in contention to win the French Open is Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek star always seems to find his best tennis on the dirt, especially at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The 25-year-old has won three of the last four events in Monaco and he also captured the Estoril and Lyon titles in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Tsitsipas has previously reached the French Open final, when he was one set away from beating Djokovic to lift the trophy three years ago, but he came up short as the Serbian produced a stirring comeback to claim another major.
With his previous experience in reaching the clay court Grand Slam final along with his current form on the clay, The Tennis Gazette thinks Tsitsipas can finally end his wait for a Grand Slam title in June.
Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev has not enjoyed his most successful clay court season in 2024.
He has failed to reach the semi-finals at any event on the surface so far this year, but he is aiming for a strong run at the Italian Open before heading to Paris.
If anyone can turn his form around however, it is Zverev, and his five previous titles on clay prove he has what it takes to succeed on the surface.
But one of the biggest challenges of Zverev’s career so far has been at the majors. He has only made one final, and that came at the 2020 US Open when he squandered a two-set lead before losing to Dominic Thiem.
He has reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros for three straight years, including his agonising retirement from the 2022 contest against Nadal when he suffered a devastating ankle injury.
Still motivated by that incident, Zverev is desperate to reach the final and claim his maiden Grand Slam title and he certainly has the artillery to do so.
Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev has yet to produce his best tennis at the majors but following his shock victory in Madrid he could be set for a remarkable French Open run.
The Russian has reached the quarter-finals of every Grand Slam, but he has lost each of his 10 matches at that stage.
Prior to the Madrid Masters he was in wretched form having lost three successive matches. But amid multiple injuries and withdrawals, Rublev claimed glory in the Spanish capital.
He produced a shock victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight, before beating Taylor Fritz in the semi’s and recovered from a set down to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final.
Winning the title despite battling illness and entering the event on poor form, will give Rublev plenty of confidence he can end his Slam quarter-final hoodoo and claim the French Open title.
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