French Open 2026 – Who Is In With A Chance Of Winning The Second Slam of 2026?

We are heading into the second week of action at the 2026 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris and that is when the big names in the tournament tend to make their moves towards the latter stages of what has been a stiflingly hot event so far.

The first week of action saw players struggle in unusually high May temperatures in Paris, with the thermometer rising well above 30 degrees centigrade regularly. This made for some long, hard and draining games for a number of players in both the men’s and women’s draw.

With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined from defending the title he won last year through injury, Jannik Sinner is the huge favourite to land yet another Slam title in the absence of the Spaniard. Can anybody stop him in the men’s tournament? We’ll have a look at some contenders below.

In the women’s event things look a lot more open with Coco Gauff hoping to defend the title she won last year, but beaten finalist from 2025 Aryna Sabalenka will be out for revenge to get her hands on the famous trophy.

Let’s take a look at how things are shaping up in the men’s and women’s tournaments.

French Open 2026 – Men’s Tournament

Jannik Sinner began the tournament as the huge 2/7 favourite to win the men’s event in the absence of his great rival Carlos Alcaraz. The Italian has won all the other Grand Slam events in his career and winning the French would complete a career slam, at the age of just 24. 

Of those most likely to offer him the most fierce resistance, Germany’s Alexander Zverev (17/2) is the second seed, but his progress through to the final looked to be hampered by being in what is arguably the tougher side of the draw, with Serbian legend Novak Djokovic (10/1) a potential semi-final opponent for the German.

The only other players rated below a 50/1 shot to win t he title are Spain’s Rafael Jodar (16/1) and Norway’s Casper Ruud (22/1), such was the strength of conviction amongst punters and tennis fan that Sinner was likely to complete that career slam right here.

However, that proved to be incorrect with both Sinner and Djokovic eliminated in the first week in huge upset results. Opening the door for Zverev to claim the title, or perhaps one of the lower priced options.

Of all those players, Jodar could be the one to watch after the teenager became the first teenager since Rafael Nadal in 2005 to reach the quarterfinals of both the Spanish and Italian Opens, both played on clay. His current form on clay arguably makes him Sinner’s most dangerous threat. 

British hopes rested with Cam Norrie, with Jack Draper out injured, but the 20th seed is not a natural on clay and was eliminated early on in the first week.

In truth, the huge shocks of the opening week have opened up this tournament and now it is the German second seed’s to lose.

Our Tip – Alexander Zverev 

French Open 2026 – Women’s Tournament

Unlike the men’s event, the women’s tournament has the potential to be a much more even contest. That was shown in the first round when five of the top 32 seeds (at the time of writing) had exited the tournament at the hands of lower-ranked opponents.

While just five men are rated at odds of 50/1 or lower, there were no fewer than eleven women rated at those odds, with current World Number 1 Aryna Sabalenka (21/10) the pre-tournament favourite. Beaten in the final by Coco Gauff (6/1) last year, the Belarus star would love to gain revenge for that loss here. 

However if she falls short it could be a double-blow as second seed Elena Rybakina (6/1) could also take the World Number 1 ranking should she outperform Sabalenka in this event. If Rybakina wins the event, she would take over as Number 1 in the world should Sabalenka be eliminated in the semi-final.

Other short-priced options included Pole former World Number 1 Iga Swiatek (12/5), Mirra Andreeva (9/1), Elena Svitolina (14/1) and Maria Kostyuk (18/1).

Others in with a shout included Karolina Muchova (33/1), Victoria Mboko (40/1) and Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova (both 50/1). 

However, with Gauff, Rybakina and Swiatek all out of the tournament, Sabalenka looks like the option to back here.

Our Tip – Aryna Sabalenka 

Join me next week when we will have our details World Cup Preview including our predictions for all the 12 group stage qualifiers.