Daniil Medvedev names his ‘two big favourites’ for the French Open
Daniil Medvedev has named five players – including himself – who are favourites to win the 2024 French Open title, although he concedes that two of them are clear of the pack.
Some believe this year’s clay-court Grand Slam is wide open as some of the top players are struggling with injury while defending champion Novak Djokovic has been in poor form this campaign.
Djokovic will be the top seed in Paris, but he has won only four matches on the red dirt leading up to Roland Garros as he suffered a semi-final defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters and a third-round exit from the Italian Open.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Medvedev are next in terms of the rankings, but the first two missed the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome with world No 2 Sinner absent with a hip injury and Alcaraz out with a forearm problem.
There have been rumours in recent days that Sinner’s hip injury is a lot more serious than initially thought and he could miss the French Open.
Medvedev believes the top four players in the rankings as well as Monte Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will be the men to beat in Paris.
“I think we should go by the ranking: Novak. Jannik, if he plays. I don’t know. Carlos, if he plays. I don’t know. Then it’s me, No 4. Who won Monte Carlo? Stef. If he wins here, could be big favourite, for sure. If he wins two Masters 1000s, he’s one of the favourites, too,” he said.
“I think if Novak and Carlos play, they’re two big favourites. They like the surface. They can win Grand Slams. But now it’s maybe little bit more open than it was ever before. Good for me, too, because usually in Roland Garros I don’t play that well. The more open it is, the better it is for me.”
Another reason why it is open is the fact that 14-time champion Rafael Nadal has also struggled with injury and there are also concerns that he could be forced to miss the tournament for a second consecutive year.
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Medvedev was the defending champion in Rome, but his 2024 campaign was ended by Tommy Paul in the round of 16.
The former world No 1 has made no secret of the fact that he is not a big fan of clay, but he is improving.
“I’m feeling much better on clay. What is tough for me on clay sometimes is to get used to conditions, which every court – in every tournament in the world – is a bit different,” he said.
“I don’t even know why exactly. Is it because the surface under the court would be different? Is it because the stands, one court is bigger, one court is smaller? The distance from the sides is smaller?
“On hard courts it’s the same: every court is different. On hard courts, I don’t know, I have this ability to kind of quite fast get used to it. On clay I need more time.”
This year’s Paris Olympics will also be staged at Roland Garros with the tournament running from July 27 to August 4 in Paris.
He added: “I have one tournament, or two tournaments, left this year on clay. Both pretty important. Both at the same venue. I’m going to try my best to be good there.”
