The second tennis Grand Slam of 2026 begins Sunday, May 24 from the red clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris, France. Top seed Jannik Sinner is the heavy favorite in the absence of two-time defending French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz (wrist), while Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic both landed in the bottom half of the draw as the No. 2 and 3 seeds.
Before we get to the favorites, contenders and sleepers at the French Open, let's acknowledge some notable injuries and absences. In addition to Alcaraz, who will also miss Wimbledon, Lorenzo Musetti (thigh), Jack Draper (knee) and Holger Rune (Achilles) are all out for the French Open. On the bright side, top-20 seeds Valentin Vacherot (foot) and Arthur Fils (hip) are both set to return from recent injuries.
Sinner is a significant favorite against the field, while the oddsmakers view Zverev and Djokovic as the best of the rest while giving no other player much of a chance. After each player's name below, you will see their title odds from DraftKings Sportsbook. Other best sports betting sites for betting both tennis futures and individual matches include FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook. Tennis Odds & Lines can vary quite substantially, especially for long shots, so you are encouraged to shop around for the best lines if you have access to multiple sports betting apps. We offer exclusive sportsbook promos in states where sports betting has gone live.
French Open ATP Picks
The Favorite for the 2026 French Open
Jannik Sinner (-275) - Sinner is riding a historic streak of success heading into this tournament, as he became the first player in ATP Tour history to win five consecutive Masters 1000 titles while compiling a 29-match winning over the past three months. He has a spotless 17-0 clay-court record in 2026 and has dropped only three sets on the surface. Sinner came tantalizingly close to winning this title last year, squandering three championship points before eventually losing one of the greatest matches of all time to Alcaraz in a deciding-set tiebreak. Without Alcaraz around to stop him this year, Sinner is heavily favored against the field to win his first career French Open title and fifth Grand Slam title overall. The world No. 1 could face 20-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce in the third round, 14th-seeded Italian compatriot Luciano Darderi in the Round of 16, and fifth-seeded Ben Shelton or ninth-seeded Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals, while Sinner's likeliest semifinal foes are No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or No. 6 seed Daniil Medvedev. None of those players seem particularly likely to halt Sinner's momentum, especially on clay, though Medvedev gave him a scare in Rome recently. Perhaps Zverev or Djokovic could stun Sinner in the final, like Djokovic did in the Australian Open semis this year, which marked the first time Sinner fell short of reaching the final at a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2024.
In the Mix for the 2026 French Open
Alexander Zverev (+1100) - Zverev was a set away from winning the French Open title in 2024, as he led Alcaraz two sets to one in the championship match before falling short. The second-seeded German has won four Masters 1000 titles on clay, and while he has been unable to break through for a Grand Slam title in an otherwise impressive career, Zverev is the favorite to emerge from the bottom half of the draw. He would be fighting an uphill battle if chalk holds for a championship match between Zverev and Sinner, as Sinner has won their last nine meetings, including 6-1, 6-4 and 6-1, 6-2 drubbings in the Monte Carlo semifinals and Madrid Open final this clay-court season. Zverev could face Karen Khachanov or Arthur Fils in the Round of 16, with Taylor Fritz, Jiri Lehecka or Rafael Jodar as potential quarterfinal opponents before a possible semifinal matchup against Djokovic, who has a career 9-5 head-to-head edge over Zverev. A back injury has bothered Zverev throughout the clay-court season, but he has notched some impressive results while playing through it, so it isn't expected to affect his availability here.
Novak Djokovic (+1600) - Prior to Alcaraz winning the French Open in both 2024 and 2025, Djokovic won his third career French Open title in 2023. Djokovic added his 24th career Grand Slam title at the 2023 U.S. Open but hasn't won a major since, though he notably defeated Alcaraz to win the Olympic gold medal at Roland Garros in 2024. The legendary Serb turns 39 two days before main-draw play begins at the French Open, but Djokovic showed he can still go toe-to-toe with the game's best at the Australian Open, where he defeated Sinner in the semis before falling to Alcaraz in the final. Djokovic has subsequently posted just a 2-2 record while battling a shoulder injury, but he has a lengthy history of stepping up at the biggest tournaments and remains highly motivated in his drive for 25 major titles. Seeded No. 3 here, Djokovic will need to play his way into form quickly, with No. 28 seed Joao Fonseca as his chalk third-round opponent and No. 15 seed Casper Ruud as a possible foe in the Round of 16. Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Jakub Mensik are potential quarterfinal foes for Djokovic before a potential Zverev-Sinner gauntlet in the final two rounds.
Arthur Fils (+2500), Rafael Jodar (+2500) and Casper Ruud (+2800) make up the next group of contenders based on pre-tournament title odds. Fils will have the support of the home crowd, and the 21-year-old Frenchman won his first nine clay-court matches of 2026 before falling to Sinner in the Madrid Open semifinals and subsequently retiring against Andrea Pellegrino in Rome due to a hip injury, from which Fils seems to have recovered. Seeded 17th, Fils could face the No. 13 seed Karen Khachanov in the third round and Zverev in the Round of 16, so the talented Frenchman has a tough draw in addition to the questions around his health. The 19-year-old Jodar burst onto the scene with quarterfinal Masters 1000 runs in both Madrid and Rome, where the Spanish teenager lost to Sinner and Luciano Darderi, respectively. Jodar's future is bright, but he's unproven in best-of-five set play, as this is only his second career Grand Slam main draw appearance. He landed in the bottom half of the draw as the No. 27 seed and could face No. 7 seed Taylor Fritz in the third round. Ruud is the most proven member of this group. The 2022 and 2023 French Open runner-up just reached another big clay-court final in Madrid, where he lost to Sinner. Ruud's a dark horse candidate to emerge from the bottom half of the draw as the No. 15 seed on his favorite surface. The Norwegian could face Djokovic in a Round of 16 rematch of the 2023 French Open final.
Daniil Medvedev (+5000) and Joao Fonseca (+6000) are the only other men with title odds better than +9000 heading into the tournament. Clay has been Medvedev's weakest surface over the years, but the former world No. 1 looks like a tremendous value at +5000 considering he has come the closest to beating Sinner this clay-court season, pushing the Italian to 6-4 in the deciding set of their semifinal clash in Rome. Medvedev's best French Open result to date was a quarterfinal showing in 2021, but the sixth-seeded Russian has a clear path to the semifinals here in the same top-half section as No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Fonseca is arguably the most talented member of the ATP's next-gen contingent, and he went toe-to-toe with Sinner at Indian Wells, falling in two tight tiebreak sets. The 19-year-old Brazilian has been dealing with a wrist injury, but he could get an early shot at a statement win if healthy, as the 28th-seeded Fonseca is on a third-round collision course with Djokovic.
Sleepers for the 2026 French Open
Flavio Cobolli (+10000) - Cobolli has climbed to 12th in the rankings and is the No. 10 seed at the French Open. The 24-year-old Italian plays his best tennis on clay and won two titles on the surface in 2025, though he has become an all-court threat, reaching last year's Wimbledon quarterfinals before picking up a hard-court title in Acapulco in February. Cobolli has clay-court wins over Zverev and Medvedev this year, and he's certainly a contender to reach his first major semifinal in the section of the draw with Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime.
Francisco Cerundolo (+10000) - Cerundolo's another sleeper from the Medvedev and FAA section. The 25th-seeded Argentine could face off against the sixth-seeded Russian in the third round, and Cerundolo would have plenty of confidence in that matchup considering Cerundolo defeated Medvedev on Medvedev's preferred hard courts at this year's Miami Open. Clay is Cerundolo's favorite surface, as he has a .616 win percentage and three titles on the dirt in his career, including a 250-level title in Buenos Aires this year.
Alexander Blockx (+12000) - Blockx has joined the likes of Jodar, Landaluce and Dino Prizmic as next-gen talents making big moves over the last few months. The 21-year-old Belgian just missed out on being seeded here, as Blockx has climbed up to 36th in the rankings thanks to a semifinal run in Madrid followed by a third-round result in Rome. He lost to Zverev in both of those Masters 1000 events while notching five top-32 wins, including victories over Auger-Aliassime, Cerundolo and Ruud. Blocks also reached the Round of 16 in Monte Carlo, where he beat Cobolli before losing to de Minaur. After sustaining a top-20 level throughout the clay-court season, Blockx will likely have to avenge that loss to de Minaur in a second-round rematch here to produce a deep run in what will be Blockx's French Open main draw debut.
French Open Prediction
Sinner has looked nearly unstoppable lately, and he'll be hungry to win this tournament for the first time after coming so close last year. If Sinner maintains his form from the past few months, it doesn't seem like anyone else in this Alcaraz-less draw can beat him, so Jannik Sinner is my French Open title pick. The rest of the draw could feature plenty of surprises, though, and I'm picking Casper Ruud to emerge from the bottom half of the draw and reach his third French Open final.
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