Saints and Sinners

Can anyone beat Jannik Sinner at this year’s French Open?

Let’s be honest with ourselves. When you look at the 2026 French Open draw and ask whether anyone can topple Jannik Sinner, you’re really asking whether anyone can perform a minor miracle on the red clay of Roland Garros. The short answer is... probably not. The longer answer is... probably not, barring some kind of divine intervention. 

Sinner arrives in Paris unbeaten for three months, carrying a 29-match winning streak and having dropped just three sets along the way. Yes, folks, you read that correctly, just three sets!

He has already conquered Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome this clay season. In Rome, he became the first homegrown men’s champion in fifty years, and in doing so became only the second man after Djokovic to win all nine Masters titles. He is, without doubt, the dominant force in men’s tennis right now. 

The French Open is the only major that has eluded him. He knows it. The whole tennis world knows it. And having dropped three match points in his agonizing defeat to Alcarez last year ("ouch"), he will certainly have a point to prove. 

So who could conceivably stop him?

Well, with Carlos Alcarez absent through injury, the answer is probably no one. But the romantic in me thinks maybe, just maybe, Djokovic could be the man to cause an upset.

One could argue Novak (who turned 39 on Friday) has no business challenging for the crown, but people, we are talking about Novak Djokovic here, the Serbian GOAT, the tennis 'Rocky' of our times. And like Rocky, he won't go down without a fight. Especially with that record breaking 25th Slam up for grabs. 

The 39-year-old Serbian has the pedigree, the experience, and the sheer bloody-mindedness to make things deeply uncomfortable for anyone. And he is the only player (apart from Alcarez) to have beaten Sinner in a Slam match since the start of 2024. 

Alexander Zverev is another credible threat — a player who knows how to grind through five-set matches, has been to a French Open final before, and thrives on the dirty, attritional warfare of clay court tennis. 

Ben Shelton, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime all carry a puncher’s chance. Any of them, on the right day, with the wind in the right direction and Sinner perhaps carrying a quiet niggle, could cause an upset. Tennis is unpredictable enough that nobody writes off a Grand Slam entirely.

But here is the truth that the draw, the form guide, and the bookmakers are all quietly agreeing on: it would take a shock of seismic proportions for Sinner not to lift the title in Paris...

Or Novak, of course...

Cue Rocky music.