Five storylines to look at getting into the 2025 French Open

The 2025 French Open, the yr’s 2d primary, kicks off on Sunday. The reigning champions, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, are preferred to copy, however now not by way of an awesome margin. 

Here are the highest 5 storylines to watch at Roland-Garros.

The post-Rafa technology is formally right here

Rafael Nadal retired from tennis finally yr’s Davis Cup, however his retirement is not going to really feel authentic till the organizers of the French Open honor him right through Sunday’s opening rite. It’ll be fascinating to peer who takes the throne from the 14-time winner, who made Roland-Garros his playground for just about 20 years. Alcaraz is the most obvious candidate to prevail Nadal, however regulate blossoming World No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, who flourishes on clay. 

Can Coco Gauff trip her momentum?

The 21-year-old has been enjoying her perfect tennis in a yr, achieving consecutive clay-court WTA 1000 finals in Rome and Madrid (the youngest participant to take action). While she misplaced to Jasmine Paolini and Aryna Sabalenka, she confirmed super expansion in her clay-court sport after an underwhelming clay-court swing in 2024 that noticed her falter on the Paris Olympics and Roland-Garros. Previously a runner-up on the French Open in 2022, Gauff is a much-improved participant. The 2023 U.S. Open winner is primed to win her 2d primary.

Will the teenagers play spoiler once more?

At the Australian Open, 3 youngsters disappointed top-10-ranked gamers, a exceptional flip of occasions that hadn’t befell at a significant in just about 20 years. The trio, Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca, has persevered to take strides, with Mensik surprising Novak Djokovic to seize his first ATP1000 identify in Miami. The upward thrust of the teenagers extends to the ladies, with 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva successful back-to-back WTA1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells. Nobody must be stunned if Mensik or Andreeva pass the space, just like when a 19-year-old Nadal gained his first French Open identify in 2005. 

Surely, the Queen of Clay may not four-peat?

Swiatek is eying her 5th French Open identify, and fourth in a row, however she arrives in Paris low on self assurance after a chain of underwhelming performances in 2025. Her third-round go out at Rome intended she dropped to World No. 5 (lowest since 2022), making her trail to a 5th identify brutal, to position it mildly. The Pole may run into Emma Raducanu in the second one around, No. 26 Marta Kostyuk within the 1/3 and No. 12 Elena Rybakina or No. 21 Jelena Ostapenko within the fourth. She is infamously 0-2 in opposition to Rybakina on clay, and 0-6 general to Ostapenko, together with two losses this yr. Even if she will break out the brutal draw, she’d must care for the red-hot Paolini or Sabalenka within the latter phases.

Will Alcaraz proceed to have Sinner’s quantity?

Since Sept. 27, 2023, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is 1-4 in opposition to Alcaraz and 104-5 in opposition to the remainder of the pack. Even extra stunningly, his handiest two losses at the Tour since August (41-2) have come in opposition to the Spaniard. At the new Rome ultimate, Alcaraz ended Sinner’s 26-match successful streak, making improvements to his head-to-head document in opposition to the Italian to 7-4. The loss additionally marked Sinner’s first straight-sets loss since 2023, a testomony to his dominance of each participant now not named Alcaraz. It’s transparent that Alcaraz has Sinner’s quantity and must be preferred to win in the event that they collide within the ultimate of the French Open. 

Honorable point out: Novak Djokovic returns to Paris

Last August, the Serb captured his first Olympic gold medal on the 2024 Paris Olympics to finish the occupation ‘Golden Slam.’ Djokovic referred to the win as his “biggest sporting success,” which stunned many, taking into consideration his document 24 majors and different achievements. Could the glad recollections of Paris propel Djokovic to his 25th primary identify? Recent shape isn’t in his desire. The 38-year-old suffered back-to-back early losses in Monte Carlo and Madrid, and gained simply the solitary identify in 2024 (his worst yr as a professional since 2005). Still, counting out the three-time Roland-Garros champion could be silly.