(Reuters) – The following are some of the other contenders for the men’s singles title at the French Open, which starts on Sunday:
JACK DRAPER (BRITAIN)
Ranking: 5
After back-to-back first-round exits at the French Open, Draper returns with vastly improved claycourt form this season having made impressive runs in Madrid and Rome.
The 23-year-old, who broke into the top five in May, claimed his first Masters 1000 crown at Indian Wells, beating defending champion Carlos Alcaraz en route before overcoming Holger Rune in the final.
In Madrid, he finished runner-up to Casper Ruud then reached the Italian Open quarter-finals, where he lost to Alcaraz.
“Roland Garros is a good opportunity for me to carry on with the momentum. I’ll be very hungry to want to show some really good stuff there,” Draper said.
CASPER RUUD (NORWAY)
Ranking: 7
Ruud, a two-time French Open runner-up, will look to build on the momentum from winning his first Masters title in Madrid and is aiming to reach a fourth Grand Slam final.
Though he is yet to beat world number one Jannik Sinner and French Open champion Alcaraz on the surface, the 26-year-old poses a threat on clay, having won more tour-level titles on the surface (12) than any other player since 2020.
Ruud, who reached the last four at Roland Garros last year, knows he has a better chance at the Grand Slams if he takes the opposition into deep water.
“In best-of-five sets I’ll be even tougher to beat,” he said after his Madrid win. “I know I can physically be there for a long time and make it difficult for the opponents.”
LORENZO MUSETTI (ITALY)
Ranking: 8
After reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals Musetti showed his qualities on clay by winning an Olympic bronze medal at the Paris Games.
The 23-year-old has had a consistent claycourt season that propelled him into the top 10.
He took out defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to his first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo, where he lost to Alcaraz in three sets, and backed that up with semi-final runs in Madrid and Rome.
HOLGER RUNE (DENMARK)
Ranking: 10
Rune won the Barcelona Open final in April, where he denied home favourite and defending champion Alcaraz a third title at the ATP 500 event. The win levelled their head-to-head record at 2-2 and marked the 22-year-old’s return to the top 10.
However, the rest of the claycourt swing has been far from ideal for Rune and the twice French Open quarter-finalist will hope his health does not let him down in Paris.
The Dane retired in the early rounds in Monte Carlo and Madrid due to illness and injury, before losing to Corentin Moutet in Rome.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Comments