American Coco Gauff is gunning for her second straight title while World No. 1 Jannik Sinner aims to complete the career grand slam at the 2026 French Open, which is set to begin Sunday inside Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris. Prize money has increased to $3.2 million for each of the winners, a 10% bump from last year’s purse despite recent protests from players upset they are not receiving a bigger share of tournament revenues compared to other majors.
Sinner has won 29 consecutive matches entering the tournament after winning titles at five ATP Masters 1000 events this season: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome. Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner’s nemesis who has won back-to-back French Open titles, will miss the tournament and has already pulled out of Wimbledon later this summer with a wrist injury.
Other challengers with the best opportunity at unseating Sinner at Roland Garros include Alexander Zverev, 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic and Arthur Fils. Djokovic, the 3-seed, is a three-time French Open winner, last taking the crown in 2023. Djokovic squares off with big server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the opening round.
On the other side of the draw, Djokovic would only potentially matchup with Sinner if both players made the final. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, making his final appearance at Roland-Garros, will play France’s Arthur Fils, the 17-seed, in the opening round.
Americans Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Learner Tien and Sebastian Korda are considered long shots. Andy Roddick won the last major title by an American in men’s singles at the 2003 US Open.
Gauff looks for repeat performance
On the women’s side, Gauff will begin defense of her French Open title against Taylor Townsend, Americans who have met only once previously in their careers (Charleston, S.C. in 2019). Gauff defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s French Open final, 6–7 (5–7), 6–2, 6–4 to win her second major, her first coming at the US Open in 2023. Vying for another title the following year, Gauff suffered 19 double faults and says she has learned from that experience in a major final.
“At the US Open, I was like, ‘I need to defend, defend.’ When you’re playing a tournament that you didn’t win, what is it called?” Gauff reported recently in Rome. “That’s why I just say now it’s just another tournament: ‘I won it last year. I’ll try again to do it this year.’ I’m not going to be able to defend every year. I’m not Rafa (el Nadal).”
Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiątek (+220), Sabalenka (+260) and Elena Rybakina (+650) arę the favorites for the tournament ahead of Gauff (+700) per FanDuel Sportsbook.
Gauff reported her serve is showing more consistency.
“My weight is a little bit better. Also just the trust, the confidence in it is a lot better,” Gauff reported this week. “Because my confidence in it is better, then I’m actually consistently tossing the ball in the right spot, having my technique be the same on each serve regardless where my target is. That’s the biggest difference.”
French Open schedule
- Main draw first round: May 24-26
- Second, third rounds: May 27-29
- Round of 16: May 30-31
- Quarterfinals: June 1-2
- Semifinals: June 4 (women’s), June 5 (men’s)
- Women’s final: June 6
- Men’s final: June 7
Men’s draw first round
Section 1
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Clement Tabur
Jacob Fearnley vs. Juan Manuel Cerundolo
Martin Landaluce vs. qualifier
(30) Corentin Moutet vs. Vit Kopriva
Section 2
(22) Artur Rinderknech vs. qualifier
Marton Fucsovics vs. Matteo Berrettini
Ethan Quinn vs. Francisco Comesana
(14) Luciano Darderi vs. Sebastian Ofner
Section 3
(9) Alexander Bublik vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
Denis Shapovalov vs. qualifier
Jaume Munar vs. Hubert Hurkacz
(19) Francis Tiafoe vs. Eliott Spizzirri
Section 4
(29) Tallon Griekspoor vs. Matteo Arnaldi
Alexandre Muller vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Aleksandar Vukic vs. Raphael Collignon
(5) Ben Shelton vs. Daniel Merida
Section 5
(4) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniel Altmaier
Sebastian Baez vs. Roman Andres Burruchaga
Luca Van Assche vs. Patrick Kypson
(31) Brandon Nakashima vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
Section 6
(20) Cam Norrie vs. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo
Marin Cilic vs. Moise Kouame
Alejandro Tabilo vs. Kamil Majchrzak
(16) Valentin Vacherot vs. qualifier
Section 7
(10) Flavio Cobolli vs. qualifier
Yibing Wu vs. Marcos Giron
Zhizen Zhang vs. qualifier
(18) Learner Tien vs. Christian Garin
Section 8
(25) Francisco Cerundolo vs. Botic Van De Zandschulp
Hugo Gaston vs. Gael Monfils
Alexei Popyrin vs. Zachary Svajda
(6) Daniil Medvedev vs. Adam Walton
Section 9
(8) Alex De Minaur vs. qualifier
Alexander Blockx vs. qualifier
Mariano Navone vs. Jenson Brooksby
(26) Jakub Mensik vs. Titouan Droguet
Section 10
(23) Tomas Etcheverry vs. Nuno Borges
Miromir Kecmanovic vs. Fabian Marozsan
Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs. qualifier
(11) Andrey Rublev vs. Ignacio Buse
Section 11
(15) Casper Ruud vs. qualifier
Hamed Medjedovic vs. Yannick Hanfmann
Lorenzo Sonego vs. qualifier
(24) Tommy Paul vs. Rinky Hijikata
Section 12
(28) Joao Fonseca vs. qualifier
Dino Prizmic vs. qualifier
Valentin Royer v. qualifier
(3) Novak Djokovic vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Section 13
(7) Taylor Fritz vs. Nishesh Basavareddy
Alexander Shevchenko vs. Alex Michelsen
James Duckworth vs. Gabriel Diallo
(24) Rafel Jodar vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic
Section 14
(21) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Damir Dzumhur
Thiago Agustine Tirante vs. qualifier
Terence Atmane v. Thanasi Kokkinakis
(12) Jiri Lehecka vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
Section 15
(13) Karen Khachanov vs. Arthur Gea
Marco Trungelliti vs. qualifier
Reilly Opelka vs. qualifier
(17) Arthur Fils vs. Stan Wawrinka
Section 16
(32) Ugo Humbert vs. Adrianno Mannarino
Quentin Halys vs. Matteo Bellucci
Tomas Machac vs. Zizou Bergs
(2) Alexander Zverev vs. Benjamin Bonzi
Women’s draw first round
Section 1
(1) Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
Elsa Jacquemot vs. qualifier
Daria Kasatkina vs. Zonyep Sonmez
(31) Carolina Bucsa vs. qualifier
Section 2
(17) Iva Jovic vs. Alexandra Eala
Emma Navarro vs. Janice Tjen
Donna Vekic vs. Alice Tubello
(16) Naomi Osaka vs. Laura Siegemund
Section 3
(9) Victoria Mboko vs. Nikola Bartunkova
Simona Waltert vs. Katerina Siniakova
Antonia Ruzic vs. qualifier
(19) Madison Keys vs. Hanne Vandewinkel
Section 4
(25) Diana Shnaider vs. Renata Zarazua
Mccartney Kessler vs. qualifier
Oleksandra Oliynykova vs. qualifier
(5) Jessica Pegula vs. Kimberly Birrell
Section 5
(4) Coco Gauff vs. Taylor Townsend
Dalma Galfi vs. qualifier
Akasha Urhobo vs. Katie Boulter
(28) Anastasia Potapova vs. Maya Joint
Section 6
(22) Anna Kalinskaya vs. Lois Boisson
Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. qualifier
Talia Gibson vs. Yulia Putintseva
(14) Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Camila Osorio
Section 7
(12) Linda Noskova vs. Maria Sakkari
Moyuka Uchijima vs. qualifier
Qinwen Zheng vs. qualifier
(23) Elise Mertens vs. TatjanaMaria
Section 8
(30) Ann Li vs. Shaui Zhang
Anhelina Kalinina vs. Diane Parry
Julia Grabher vs. qualifier
(6) Amanda Anisimova vs. Tiantsoa Rokotomanga Rajaonah
Section 9
(7) Elina Svitolina vs. Anna Bondar
Leolia Jeanjean vs. qualifier
Tamara Korpatsch vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo
(32) Xinyu Wang vs. Lilli Tagger
Section 10
(21) Clara Tauson vs. Daria Snigur
Peyton Stearns vs. Sofia Kenin
Caty McNally vs. Alja Tomljanovic
(11) Belinda Bencic vs. qualifier
Section 11
(15) Marta Kostyuk vs. Oksana Selekhmeteva
Katie Volynets vs. Clara Burel
Panna Udvardy vs. Viktorija Golubic
(24) Leylah Fernandez vs. Alycia Parks
Section 12
(29) Jelena Ostapenko vs. Ella Seidel
Tereza Valentova vs. Magda Linette
Sara Bejlek vs. qualifier
(3) Iga Świątek vs. Emerson Jones
Section 13
(8) Mirra Andreeva vs. Fiona Ferro
Emiliana Arango vs. qualifier
Francesca Jones vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
(27) Marie Bouzkova vs. qualifier
Section 14
(20) Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jil Teichmann
Magdalena Frech vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Kamila Rakhimova vs. Jaqueline Crisitian
(10) Karolina Muchova. vs. Anastasia Zakharova
Section 15
(13) Jasmine Paolini vs. Dayana Yastremka
Emma Raducanu vs. Solana Sierra
Petra Marcinko vs. Eva Łys
(18) Sorana Cirstea vs. Ksenia Efremova
Section 16
(26) Hailey Baptiste vs. Barbora Krejcikova
Danka Kovinic vs. qualifier
Anna Blinkova vs. Yuliia Starodubtseva
(2) Elena Rybakina vs. Veronika Erjavec
