The French Open kicks off Sunday, with two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz out of the tournament. But No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner has been breaking records on clay this season, and appears to be the man to beat.
On the women's side, Coco Gauff won the 2025 French Open title -- with Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek all expected to challenge for the title.
We polled our experts for their picks, thoughts on the tournament and best betting tips.
Can anyone beat Sinner?
D'Arcy Maine: Simply put: no. Not right now, and not without Alcaraz in the draw.
Sinner is on a dominant streak for the ages. He hasn't lost a match since February and has claimed a title at five straight tournaments -- all stunningly at the Masters 1000 level -- for a 29-match win streak. And in that time, he has dropped just three sets. Three sets! Sure, there are some formidable foes in his path -- Ben Shelton potentially in the quarters and Daniil Medvedev in the semis, to name a few -- but it just seems unlikely that any of them will beat him with such an opportune chance for a career Grand Slam on the line. To quote Alexander Zverev, who lost to Sinner 6-1, 6-2 in the Madrid final, "There's a big gap between Sinner and everybody else right now." And that might be putting it mildly.
Bill Connelly: I watched Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon once upon a time, so it definitely can happen. But here's a complete list of non-Alcaraz players who have beaten Sinner in a best-of-five match since the start of 2024: Daniil Medvedev (Wimbledon 2024) and Novak Djokovic (Australian Open 2026).
The only active non-Alcaraz players to have ever beaten him in best-of-five on clay are Andrey Rublev (2022) and Daniel Altmaier (2023). Some of the rising players who could give him problems -- Arthur Fils and Rafael Jodar, to name two -- haven't proven that they're anywhere near ready to break through over five sets. So, it'll take an absolute "stuff happens" kind of day, or another amazing performance from Djokovic in the finals, for him to go down.
Simon Cambers: The only way it happens is if Sinner gets injured or if cramps hit badly. The hot weather expected for Week 1 opens the possibility, but in pure tennis terms, it won't happen. Sinner has not lost since Doha, and though he has played a lot, he has such an edge over the field, especially with Alcaraz not playing through injury. All things being equal, he wins it not at full speed, even if there are good players in his path. Good, but not good enough.