Top five title favourites in men's singles at French Open 2024

Published at :May 30, 2024 at 6:20 PM

Modified at :May 30, 2024 at 8:20 PM

(Courtesy : Getty Images)

Title favourites battle indifferent form and niggling injuries as the clay court season ends.

The clay court swing of the ATP Calendar concludes with the French Open 2024. In the men’s singles field, numerous players possess the potential to claim the title at Roland-Garros by the end of the fortnight.

Despite their aspirations to lift the crown at the sole Grand Slam event played on clay, potential champions have failed to meet expectations at recent events. This shortfall is attributed to factors such as injury or a lack of form, as evidenced by their performances at recent tournaments.

The list of possible title holders at Roland-Garros once the ninth of June comes around, can be: –

Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz, the 21-year-old Spanish tennis sensation widely-regarded as the potential successor to Rafael Nadal’s dominance, has been sidelined since March due to a right arm injury sustained during his quarter-final loss at the Miami Open. The injury forced him to withdraw from the subsequent Monte Carlo and Barcelona tournaments.

However, Alcaraz, currently ranked World No. 3, has been flexing his muscles at the French Open thus far and his performances suggest the Spaniard can go all the way.

Despite not having won a French Open title yet, Alcaraz boasts an impressive 11-3 win-loss record at the Stade de Roland Garros, translating to an 80% win rate. Additionally, his clay-court credentials are bolstered by seven career titles on the surface.

Novak Djokovic

The Serbian superstar, who has dominated the ATP Rankings for an impressive 425 weeks, is yet to secure a title in the 2024 season. However, his recent victory at the Gonet Geneva Open as a wildcard has sparked hope for a successful defence of his 2023 Roland-Garros title.

On his 37th birthday, Djokovic notched up his 1100th win in tour-level matches by defeating Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann with a convincing scoreline of 6-3, 6-3. This milestone adds to his already illustrious career, which includes an unprecedented 31 Grand Slam first-place seedings and 48 Grand Slam men’s singles semi-finals.

Jannik Sinner

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner has struggled with a hip injury sustained in Madrid. Sinner’s health woes have helped Novak Djokovic maintain his hold on the No. 1 position in the ATP Rankings despite having a sub-par season thus far.

Though Sinner is a better performer on hard courts, he made the semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters and reached the last eight at the Madrid Masters, but pulled out of the Madrid event ahead of his quarter-final match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Italian is 28-2 this season and has an outstanding 6-1 win-loss record on clay courts in 2024 as well as a 70% career win rate on the same surface.

Daniil Medvedev

World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev has encountered a series of near misses in the 2024 tennis season. Despite reaching two finals (Melbourne and Indian Wells) and two semi-finals (Dubai and Miami), the Russian player has fallen short on all four occasions.

Medvedev’s ranking has also seen a decline, dropping from No. 3 in February to his current position at No. 5. His inability to retain the Miami Open and Dubai Open titles he won in 2023 contributed to this slide. Additionally, he was unable to defend his Italian Open title.

Known for his gritty playing style, Medvedev has a reputation for staging comebacks when the odds are against him.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

After a lackluster start to the 2024 season, Stefanos Tsitsipas hit the reset button as the clay court swing began. His resurgence became evident at Los Cabos, where the Greek player reached the semi-finals. However, it wasn’t until the Monte-Carlo Masters that he secured a significant victory, defeating Casper Ruud in the final. Tsitsipas also made it to the Barcelona Open final, facing Ruud once again, but narrowly missed out on the title.

In his journey to claim his third Monte Carlo title, Tsitsipas showcased his prowess by defeating three top 10 players. As he arrives in Paris for the French Open, his win-loss record stands at 22-7. Notably, Tsitsipas was a finalist in 2021, where he engaged in an epic five-set battle against Novak Djokovic. Despite holding a two-set lead, he ultimately succumbed, losing 7-6 (6), 6-2, 3-6, 2-6, 4-6.

With the memory of that 2021 final still fresh, Tsitsipas is determined to make amends and chase glory at the 2024 edition of Roland-Garros.

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