The season’s second grand slam event — the French Open — is here, with 128 players in each of the men’s and women’s singles draws looking to lift the title at Roland Garros.
This year’s French Open, which will use its first day to pay tribute to retired legend Rafa Nadal, promises plenty of storylines to watch out for.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Schedule
The French Open men’s and women’s singles main draw begins on Monday, May 25, with the women’s final scheduled for Saturday, June 7 and the men’s final to take place on Sunday, June 8.
NOTE: The opening day’s schedule will appear here following the singles draws on Thursday at 1 p.m. BST.
Men’s singles bracket | Women’s singles bracket
Key details and how to watch
Dates: May 25 to June 8
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris
How to watch: The French Open will be broadcast live on TNT Sports and discovery+ in the UK. You can also follow live updates on ESPN.
The British hopes
British tennis will be more hopeful than usual entering this year’s French Open, with stars Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter all enjoying some success on clay this season.
Draper reached the final of the Madrid Open before losing to Norway’s Casper Ruud in three sets. He then made it to the Italian Open quarterfinals in Rome, only to be stopped by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
The 23-year-old is yet to make it past the first round after losing his opening matches in the past two years. However, he is expected to make a better run this time out.
In the women’s draw, Raducanu has put aside her aversions to clay and mananged to earn some success — the highlight of which came at the Italian Open where she won three matches in a row on the surface for the first time in her career.
She was stopped in her tracks in Rome by American Coco Gauff, but she will be hoping to develop further at this week’s Strasbourg Open — the final event before the French Open.
Elsewhere, Katie Boulter managed just one win between Madrid and Rome — against world No. 64 Katerina Siniakova. However, she entered the lower-ranked WTA 125k Paris event last week and emerged as the champion, raising hopes that she has finally tuned her game for the surface.
Other British players in the singles draws this week include Jacob Fearnley, Jodie Burrage and Sonay Kartal.
Who are the favourites?
For the men’s draw, it is hard to look past Italian Open finalists Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as the clear favourites for the title. It was Alcaraz who took the title in Rome, winning the final in two sets. He is also the reigning champion at Roland Garros.
Don’t look past Sinner, though. Rome marked the world No. 1’s return to tennis after a three-month ban over two positive doping tests in March 2024.
In the women’s draw, the bracket is a little more open.
Iga Swiatek is seeking her fourth straight title at Roland Garros and her fifth in the past six years. However, she has been a level below her imperious best in recent weeks, notably suffering a shock third-round Italian Open defeat to American Danielle Collins.
The contenders to unseat Switaek are numerous. There’s American Coco Gauff, who reached the final in both Madrid and Rome in recent weeks, although she lost each time to Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini, respectively. All three will be eyeing up the title.
There is also 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who made the semifinals last year but is embarking on a breakout season that has already seen her win two WTA 1000 events this season.
Prize money
Prize money for the men’s and women’s singles champions is equal at the French Open, with each due to take home £2.1 million out of a combined £47m pot.
The runners-up will earn just over £1m, while prizes decrease for each round thereafter.
Winner: £2,166,912
Runner-up: £1,083,456
Semifinal: £586,341
Quarterfinal: £373,898
Round 4: £225,189
Round 3: £142,761
Round 2: £99,423
Round 1: £66,282
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