Novak Djokovic get ‘very interesting’ verdict from former Grand Slam finalists ahead of French Open
Novak Djokovic has yet to confirm if or when he will play his first match on a clay court in 2026, but the Serbian legend has already been given his biggest boost after it was confirmed that defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will not be competing at the French Open.
Djokovic was beaten by Jannik Sinner in last year’s Roland Garros semi-finals, with the comprehensive manner of his defeat leaving many observers to conclude the veteran will struggle to get past the Italian or Alcaraz in a best-of-five-set match on clay at this phase of his career.
A challenge for Wimbledon appeared to be his most likely route to what would be a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, but former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has suggested Alcaraz’s wrist injury has changed the dynamics around the second Grand Slam of the season.
“For me, Wimbledon is the one Novak could win, but all of a sudden Roland Garros has gotten rather interesting on the men’s side,” said Rusedski on an Off Court Cuts slice of his podcast.
“Yes, Sinner is the hot favourite, but let’s see how the expectation is there because the expectation has been on two guys. It’s been about Sinner. It’s been about Alcaraz and now everybody’s saying Sinner, Sinner, Sinner. It’s going to put a little bit more pressure, a little bit more expectation on Sinner.
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“Now, there’s a lot of people saying, okay, Carlos is out of the French Open. I don’t have to beat Alcaraz and Sinner back to back to win a major.
“So it’s gonna be interesting to see what Novak shows up in Rome. All of a sudden he’s thinking, hmm, maybe there’s an opportunity here. [Alexander] Zverev will be thinking the same thing and he’s been the most consistent guy out there apart from Alcaraz and Sinner.
“All of a sudden, players are starting to think maybe there’s a little bit more belief because it’s only one guy on one given day that you have to come through, not both of them back to back.
“So there are a lot of people thinking what an opportunity. The other guy who’s a little dark horse is Arthur Fils, who won in Barcelona. He’s playing well as well and being a Frenchman in France, that is a big deal. So all of a sudden people are thinking ‘what an opportunity’.”
Despite suggesting the chasing pack may be encouraged by the absence of the defending French Open champ over the next few weeks, Rusedski believes the biggest winner could be the dominant Sinner, who lost after having two match points in the Roland Garros final against Alcaraz last year.
“He’s been by far the better player since the end of the Australian Open,” added the 1997 US Open finalist.
“He’s won every Masters Series to date. I have a sneaky feeling he might win in Madrid and Rome, but the one in Paris is the one that hurt him last year.
“He also wants to complete that career Grand Slam, as Alcaraz did it in Australia I feel that Sinner is the hot favourite to do that right now.
“He needs some sort of freak accident to stop him because he’s just putting himself in a different level than everybody else at the moment.
“He’s incredible on the court and he’s one of the strongest guys mentally I’ve ever seen. Physically, he’s left no stone unturned in diet preparation. So, he has a little added pressure now without Alcaraz, but I think he’s looking forward to the challenge.”
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