American Coco Gauff is aiming for her second consecutive title, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is aiming for a career Grand Slam at the 2026 French Open, which begins on Sunday at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris. The prize money for each winner increased to $3.2 million, a 10% increase from last year’s prize money, despite recent protests from players upset that they did not receive a larger share of the tournament’s revenue compared to other major tournaments.
Sinner won titles at five ATP Masters 1000 events this season: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, and entered the tournament on a 29-game winning streak. Sinner’s arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz, who won back-to-back French Open titles, withdrew from the tournament. He has already withdrawn from Wimbledon later this summer Due to wrist injury.
Other challengers with the best chance of dethroning Sinner at Roland Garros include Alexander Zverev, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Arthur Fils. Djokovic, the third seed, has won the French Open three times, the last time being in 2023. Djokovic will face big server Giovanni Mpesi Pellicar in the opening round.
On the other side of the draw, Djokovic could face Sinner only if both players reach the final. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka will make his final appearance at Roland Garros, where he will face 17th seed Arthur Fils of France in the opening round.
Americans Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Lerner Tien and Sebastian Korda are considered potential candidates. Andy Roddick won the last major men’s singles title by an American at the 2003 US Open.
Gauff aims to play again
On the women’s side, Gauff will defend her French Open title against American Taylor Townsend (Charleston, South Carolina, 2019), whom she has only faced once in her career. Gauff defeated No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 in last year’s French Open final to earn her second major victory and her first at the 2023 U.S. Open. The following year, competing for another title, Gauff committed 19 double faults and learned from the experience in the major final.
“At the U.S. Open, I thought, ‘I have to defend, I have to defend.’ What do you call it when you play in a tournament that you didn’t win?” Gauff said recently in Rome. “That’s why I say now that this is just another tournament: ‘I won last year and I’m going to win it again this year.’ You can’t defend it every year. I’m not Rafa (El Nadal).”
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, four-time French Open champion Iga Świętek (+220), Sabalenka (+260) and Jelena Rybakina (+650) are the favorites to win the tournament ahead of Gauff (+700).
Gauff said her serve is more consistent.
“My weight is a little bit better,” Gauff said this week. “My confidence is a lot better, my confidence is a lot better.” “Now that I’m more confident, I can actually consistently throw the ball in the right place and use the same technique on each serve no matter where the target is. That’s the biggest difference.”
French Open schedule
- Main draw 1st round: May 24th to 26th
- Round 2, Round 3: May 27th to 29th
- Round 16: May 30th to 31st
- Quarterfinals: June 1st-2nd
- Semi-finals: June 4th (ladies), June 5th (men’s)
- Women’s final: June 6th
- Men’s final: June 7th
Men’s lottery 1st round
Section 1
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Clement Tabour
Jacob Fearnley vs. Juan Manuel Cerundro
Martin Landalus vs. Qualifier Winner
(30) Corentin Moutet vs. Rives Kopriva
Section 2
(22) Arthur Rinderknek vs. Qualifier Winner
Marton Fucsovics vs. Matteo Berrettini
Ethan Quinn vs. Francisco Comesana
(14) Luciano Daldelli vs. Sebastian Offner
Section 3
(9) Alexander Bublik vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
Denis Shapovalov vs. Qualifier Winner
Jaume Munar vs. Hubert Furkas
(19) Francis Tiafoe vs. Elliott Spizzilli
Section 4
(29) Talon Greek Spur vs. Mateo Arnaldi
Alexander Muller vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Aleksandar Vukic vs. Rafael Collignon
(5) Ben Shelton vs. Daniel Merida
Section 5
(4) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniel Altmaier
Sebastian Baez vs. Roman Andres Burruchaga
Luka Van Assche vs. Patrick Kipson
(31) Brandon Nakashima vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
Section 6
(20) Cam Norrie vs. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo
Marin Cilic vs. Moises Kouame
Alejandro Tabilo vs. Kamil Majsulzak
(16) Valentin Bachelot vs. Preliminary
Section 7
(10) Flavio Cobolli vs. Qualifiers
Wu Yibin vs. Marcos Giron
Zhizen Zhang vs. Qualifier Winner
(18) Lerner Tien vs. Christian Garin
Section 8
(25) Francisco Cerundro vs. Botik of the Sandsschulp
Hugo Gaston vs. Gael Monfils
Alexei Popyrin vs. Zachary Svaida
(6) Daniil Medvedev vs. Adam Walton
Section 9
(8) Alex De Minaur vs. Qualifying
Alexander Brox vs. Qualifier Winner
Mariano Navone vs. Jenson Brooksby
(26) Jakub Mencic vs. Titouan Droghe
Section 10
(23) Thomas Etcheverry vs. Nuno Borges
Milomir Kecmanovic vs. Fabian Marosan
Camilo Hugo Carabelli vs. Preliminary
(11) Andrei Rublev vs. Ignatius Bass
Section 11
(15) Casper Rude vs. Qualifier Winner
Hamed Medjedovic vs. Yannick Hanfman
Lorenzo Sonego vs. Qualifying
(24) Tommy Paul vs Linky Hijikata
Section 12
(28) Joao Fonseca vs. Qualifying
Dino Prismic vs. Qualifiers
Valentin Royer vs. Qualifier Winner
(3) Novak Djokovic vs. Giovanni Mpesi Pellicard
Section 13
(7) Taylor Fritz vs. Nishesh Basavareddy
Alexander Shevchenko vs. Alex Mikkelsen
James Duckworth vs. Gabriel Diallo
(24) Rafael Jodal vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic
Section 14
(21) Alejandro Davidovic Fokina vs. Damir Cumhur
Thiago Agustin Tirante vs. Qualifier Winner
Terrence Atman v. Thanasi Kokkinakis
(12) Jiri Rehekka vs. Pablo Carreño Bust
Section 15
(13) Karen Khachanov vs. Arthur Geer
Marco Trungetti vs. Qualifying
Riley Opelka vs. Qualifier Winner
(17) Arthur Fils vs. Stan Wawrinka
Section 16
(32) Hugo Humbert vs. Adrianno Mannarino
Quentin Harris vs Matteo Bellucci
Thomas Machak vs. Zizou Bergs
(2) Alexander Zverev vs. Benjamin Bonzi
Women’s first round draw
Section 1
(1) Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Buzas Maneiro
Elsa Jacquemo vs. Qualifiers
Daria Kasatkina vs. Sleeping Juniper
(31) Carolina Buksa vs. Preliminary
Section 2
(17) Iva Jovic vs. Alexandra Ila
Emma Navarro vs. Janice Arne
Donna Vekic vs. Alice Tubello
(16) Naomi Osaka vs Laura Siegemund
Section 3
(9) Victoria Mboko vs. Nikola Bartunkova
Simona Waltert vs. Katerina Sinakova
Antonia Ruzic vs. Qualifier Winner
(19) Madison Keyes vs. Hanne Vandewinkel
Section 4
(25) Diana Schneider vs. Renata Zarazua
McCartney Kessler vs. Qualifier Winner
Oleksandra Olnikova vs. Qualifier Winner
(5) Jessica Pegula vs. Kimberly Birrell
Section 5
(4) Coco Gauff vs. Taylor Townsend
Dalma Galfi vs. Qualifier Winner
Akasha Ahobo vs. Katie Boulter
(28) Anastasia Potapova vs. Maya Joint
Section 6
(22) Anna Kalinskaya vs. Royce Drink
Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Qualifier Winner
Talia Gibson vs. Yulia Putintseva
(14) Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Camila Osorio
Section 7
(12) Linda Noskova vs. Maria Sakkari
Moyuka Uchijima vs. Qualifying
Qingwen Zhen vs. Qualifier Winner
(23) Elise Mertens vs. Tatiana Maria
Section 8
(30) Ang Lee vs. Shaui Zhang
Angelina Kalinina vs. Diane Parry
Julia Glover vs. Qualifier Winner
(6) Amanda Anisimova vs. Tiensoa Lokotomanga Rajonaa
Section 9
(7) Elina Svitolina vs. Anna Bondar
Leoria Janjan vs. Qualifiers
Tamara Kolpacz vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo
(32) Wang Xinyu vs. Lily Tagger
Section 10
(21) Clara Thorson vs. Daria Sniger
Peyton Stearns vs. Sofia Kenin
Katie McNally vs. Alja Tomljanovic
(11) Belinda Bencic vs. Qualifier Winner
Section 11
(15) Marta Kostyuk vs. Oksana Selekmeteva
Katie Vorinetz vs. Clara Brel
Panna Udobadi vs. Victoria Golubic
(24) Leila Fernandez vs. Alicia Parks
Section 12
(29) Jelena Ostapenko vs. Ella Seidel
Tereza Valentois vs. Magda Lynette
Sara Bezirek vs. Qualifier Winner
(3) Iga Swientek vs. Emerson Jones
Section 13
(8) Mila Andreeva vs. Fiona Ferro
Emiliana Arango vs. Qualifier Winner
Francesca Jones vs. Beatrice Haddad Maia
(27) Marie Bouzkova vs. Qualifier Winner
Section 14
(20) Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jill Teichmann
Magdalena Fletch vs. Elena Gabriela Ruse
Kamila Rakimova vs. Jacqueline Christian
(10) Karolina Muchova. vs. Anastasia Zakharova
Section 15
(13) Jasmine Paolini vs. Dayana Yastremka
Emma Laducanu vs. Solana Sierra
Petra Marcinko vs. Eva Is
(18) Sorana Cirstea vs. Ksenia Efremova
Section 16
(26) Hayley Baptiste vs. Barbora Krejcikova
Danka Kovinic vs. Qualifier
Anna Blinkova vs. Yulia Staroduvtseva
(2) Elena Rybakina vs. Veronika Erjavec
