As summer starts, the clay season in tennis comes to a head in Paris at Roland Garros, which started on Sunday, May 24, after the qualifying rounds were completed. Tennis is a very unpredictable sport where matches can go either way, and the gap in skill level between the very best and the youngest players continues to decrease. Being one of tennis’ main tournaments, a Grand Slam, Roland Garros holds a rich history and an exciting story for players.
2026 is Roland Garros’s 126th anniversary. The tournament started in 1891 for French club players. Then, in 1925, the tournament accepted players from all over the world, birthing the “French Open” players know today. After French players won the Davis Cup in 1927, a stadium was built to commemorate the achievement. The stadium was named Roland Garros in recognition of an aviation pioneer who passed away during World War I.
After the tournament had opened to international players, French players continued to dominate. However, this changed after the tournament’s hiatus due to World War II. American and Australian players like Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Margaret Court began seeing significant success at the tournament. Court still holds the record for total tournament titles won with 13.
Despite the tournament’s success and increasing attention, tennis was still not a professional sport. It was mostly played at club levels and players could not earn money from the tournaments. After the sport became professional in 1968, the tournament only continued to grow. New courts were built to accommodate the tournament and new players made their legacies at the tournament.
This was not all smooth sailing, though. Many French fought against the popularity of the sport because they wanted to preserve its origins. This did not work, and next it was the Spanish who dominated the Roland-Garros titles. Some of these players included Carlos Moya, Sergi Bruguera, Juan Carlos Ferrero and, of course, Rafael Nadal, who won nine titles and altered the way people saw clay court domination forever.
Now, in the present, Roland Garros is still one of the most widely known tournaments and one of the most sought-after titles. Last year, a historic five-hour final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, two of tennis’ most promising players, marked a new era for the tournament: one filled with new talent and players ready to create a legacy at the tournament.
Last year’s men’s final is widely considered one of the best tennis matches ever seen, but this year, there will be no rematch between the two. Alacaraz pulled out of Roland Garros with a right wrist injury, making it impossible for him to defend last year’s title. Alcaraz’s withdrawal represents a growing number of players who are injured and have made the difficult decision to skip Roland Garros, including Lorenzo Musetti, Jack Draper, Holger Rune, Sonay Kartal and Veronika Kudermetova. One player in particular who withdrew, Arthur Fils, was considered a favorite after winning the Barcelona Open.
So many players’ withdrawals raise questions about the overall health of the field in tennis, where injuries are becoming increasingly common, and, in a more short-term sense, who will win Roland Garros in 2026, particularly on the men’s side, where most of the injuries have occurred.
Signs seem to be pointing to Jannik Sinner, who would achieve his Career Grand Slam, a win at all four Grand Slams, with a Roland Garros win. His rival, Alcaraz, achieved this feat earlier this year with his win at the Australian Open. Additionally, Sinner does not seem like he can lose a match right now. Even prior to the beginning of Roland Garros, Sinner had a 29-match winning streak.
His last loss was to Novak Djokovic during the Australian Open, and he has won the past five tournaments he played. For reference, only five players in all of tennis have ever reached higher winning streaks than the one Sinner has right now. Without Alcaraz in the players’ field, the only players who stand a chance to defeat him are likely Djokovic, who has not played a tournament since the beginning of May, and Zverev, who lost the last nine matches he played against Sinner.
Will Sinner triumph or fall? Find out as Roland Garros continues over the next two weeks, and tune into the men’s final on Sunday, June 7, and the women’s final on Saturday, June 6.
