03/06/2026
Paris in the springtime; a time for fun and relaxation. Unless you’re a tennis player and you’re dealing with an unprecedented heat wave and carnage in the men’s and women’s draws, that is. With temperatures topping 30 degrees Celsius every day until the second Sunday, seeds were scattered and new faces emerged, leaving Aryna Sabalenka as the only Grand Slam singles champion remaining in the draw. Sabalenka takes on Diana Shnaider in the Women's Singles Quarter-Finals today.
The men’s event has a bit of 2004 about it, when Roger Federer lost early, Tim Henman made the semi-finals and Gaston Gaudio lifted the title.
A similar story will be written this week. There will be a first-time Grand Slam champion in the men’s draw, and with Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic all out of the picture, many will feel this is their best chance to get over the line.
Alexander Zverev, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, is now the favourite, and No.4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will take some stopping. But in truth, everyone left in the event, be it Jakub Mensik or the more experienced Matteo Berrettini will fancy their chances.
Such opportunity brings a different kind of pressure, though, and it will be fascinating to see who copes with it best.
Young guns come of age?
With Sinner gone, the stage was surely set for Novak Djokovic, but the 24-time Grand Slam champion had played just one match since March coming in and was worn down in a five-set epic by the exuberance and brilliance of Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who did what only one other man - Jurgen Melzer in 2010 - had done by coming from two sets down to beat Djokovic in Paris.
Another 19-year-old in Rafael Jodar continued his stunning rise by reaching the quarter-finals, while 17-year-old Frenchman Moise Kouame made some serious noise on his Grand Slam debut run to the third round.
Fonseca, Jodar and Kouame could be ones to watch at Wimbledon.
It’s easy to forget that Mirra Andreeva is also just 19 given what she has already achieved in the game, but she too has proved that the new kids on the block are here to stay.
