With spring having arrived, it’s time for the clay court season on the ATP and WTA Tours. This time of year is highlighted by the signature red clay of Roland Garros and the year’s second major: the French Open.

A year ago, the tournament was won by two of the sport’s biggest stars. Carlos Alcaraz won the French Open for the first time in his career, reigning supreme on the clay surface he grew up watching his idol Rafael Nadal dominate for so many years.

On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek continued her Parisian dominance, winning her third straight French Open title, and the fourth of her career.

“I love this place, I wait every year to come back here,” Swiatek proclaimed.

As we head into the 2025 installment of the French Open, will we see new champions, or will Alcaraz and Swiatek continue their dominance at Roland Garros? How will the crowd respond to the return of world number one Jannik Sinner? These are just some of the questions ahead of Roland Garros.

Long Island Tennis Magazine breaks down some of the players to watch out for in Paris in 2025, including Contenders, Pretenders and Sleepers.

MEN’S SINGLES

CONTENDERS

Carlos Alcaraz

When evaluating the contenders for this year’s French Open men’s singles title, there is no better person to start with than the event’s defending champion. A year ago, Carlos Alcaraz captured the fourth major title of his career but his first at the French Open, the surface where many people believed he would have the most success in his career, much like his idol and compatriot Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz has played well during the claycourt swing in 2025, including winning the Monte Carlo title for the first time in his career, and reaching the final in Barcelona, setting himself up for continued success on the Roland Garros clay.

Alexander Zverev

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That is seemingly the case with Alexander Zverev who has reached the finals of three majors yet has never been able to win one. He hopes that changes in Paris this year, as he continues to play some of the best tennis of his career, and with the knowledge that he has reached the finals at the French Open before, which was last year. He won the Munich title in April, the clay court event in his native Germany, and with experience playing late into major finals, and a strong desire to finally win one, Zverev is one of the favorites to win this year’s French Open.

Alex de Minaur

Alex de Minaur has been a staple of the Top 10 of the ATP Tour Rankings for some time now, and he remains one of the more consistent players on tour. During that time, he has reached the quarterfinals of majors five times, once at each of the four majors including twice at the U.S. Open. A year ago, the Australian was in the final eight at the French Open before losing to finalist Alexander Zverev. This time around, De Minaur could go deeper than that. He has played well on clay this spring including reaching the semifinals in Monte Carlo and the quarterfinals in Barcelona. While he has never reached the finals at a clay court event, De Minaur has what it takes to make a deep run at the sport’s biggest events. Having watched him play well through the first quarter of the season, De Minaur passes the eye test and this could be his breakout major.

PRETENDERS

Taylor Fritz

The top-ranked American has surely established himself as one of the best players in the world, but Taylor Fritz has yet to prove he can make headway at the French Open. That could primarily be because of his lack of success on clay overall. Fritz has only been to one clay court final in his career, which he lost, and in general, the American men tend to struggle on clay, especially when compared to their success on hard court. His best showing at the French Open was a fourth-round result in 2024, but that could be the extent of Fritz’s potential at Roland Garros.

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev has always been upfront about his displeasure for the clay surfaces, and that has been borne out with the French Open serving as the major where he has enjoyed the least success throughout his career. He has made one quarterfinal at Roland Garros, four years ago, and other than that has seen his Parisian runs end early on in the opening week of the tournament. Medvedev hits a flat ball which has never served him well on clay, and his past indicates that is something that will go unchanged.

Andrey Rublev

Despite being a mainstay in the Top 10 of the rankings, the quarterfinals is as far  as Andrey Rublev has advanced at the Grand Slams. He has reached that stage 10 different times in his career and is 0-10 in those matches. It seems to be a massive hurdle for the Russian as he attempts to win his first ever major, and one has to think there is something mental associated with that. He reached the quarterfinals at the French Open in 2020 and 2022, and we shouldn’t expect a deeper run that that this time around.

SLEEPERS

Lorenzo Musetti

This season has proven to be the best yet in the young career of Lorenzo Musetti, with the Italian reaching a career-high ranking of 11th in the world. With Musetti playing at the top of his game, he could be due for a deep run at the French Open. He made a name for himself by reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 2024, proving that he has to what to takes to go far at a major, and has played well on clay thus far in 2025. He reached the first Masters 1000 final of his career in Monte Carlo, and had he not been injured in the final against Carlos Alcaraz, could have been the one holding the trophy.

Holger Rune

Talent has never been the question for Holger Rune, but the debate has always been whether or not he has what it takes between the ears to make the kind of run at a Grand Slam that people projected for him when he broke onto the tour as a teenager. Still just 21-years-old, it seems as if Rune has begun to come into his own this spring. He reached the finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, which was a big stepping stone for him, and backed that up when the clay court swing began, defeating Carlos Alcaraz to win the Barcelona title, his first ATP 500 crown. As a result, Rune jumped back into the Top 10. With a new found confidence and the results to back it up, he could be due for a deep run.

Joao Fonseca

A player that pops off the screen when watching on television is a little-known Brazilian named Joao Fonseca. At just 18-years-old, Fonseca hasn’t had a lot of time to make his name known at the majors but that could soon change. He qualified for the Next Generation finals in 2024 and despite being the youngest player in the field, captured the title. As a South American, Fonseca grew up playing and training on clay, and thrives on that surface. The lone final he reached at the ATP Tour level was at the Argentina Open, played on clay. Despite being ranked outside the Top 60, Fonseca is one to watch for in Paris.

WOMEN’S SINGLES

CONTENDERS

Iga Swiatek

No woman in the history of the tour has won four straight French Open titles, so Iga Swiatek will be out to make history when she arrives at Roland Garros. There have been several women to win three in a row, which Swiatek has done, but no one has ever won four straight. However, Swiatek has what it takes to be the first. She has dominated the French Open winning four titles overall in Paris and losing just two matches there in her entire career. She is clearly the player to beat on the women’s side.

Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff has won a major title, which came at the U.S. Open in 2023, and has her sights set on adding a second of those trophies to her collection. Gauff has been open about her favorite surface being the hard court, but she has proven she can be successful on clay. She reached the French Open final in 2022, and has won 72 percent of the matches she played on clay during her career. As she continues to sure up her forehand and her serve, Gauff is rounding out her game to become a complete player, one that can produce a French Open championship.

Mirra Andreeva

A year ago, Mirra Andreeva was one of the last four players standing at the French Open. At just 17-years-old, it was the best result of her young career, and a sign of things to come. Andreeva has had a great start to 2025 which included reaching the semifinals in Dubai and capturing the biggest title of her career at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The results showed that Andreeva was not just a talent, but someone who has what it takes to make a deep run at the sport’s biggest tournaments. She will turn 18 just before this year’s French Open, and after reaching the semifinals there in 2024, is set to make another push for her first Grand Slam.

PRETENDERS

Aryna Sabalenka

It’s hard to consider the top-ranked woman in the world as a pretender, but that is just how unique the French Open is. Playing on clay changes up a player’s attack style and requires some different skill sets that don’t always apply to the hard courts, which is where Sabalenka could find some trouble. She is perhaps the biggest hitter on tour and a proven champion, but Sabalenka has had little of her success come in Paris. She made the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2023, but outside of that and a quarterfinal run in 2024, she has never been out of the third round.

Madison Keys

The American reached the pinnacle of her career earlier this year, winning “Down Under” and hoisting the Australian Open trophy. Keys became one of the oldest first-time champions in women’s history, and it was a seminal moment for one of the sport’s most likeable figures. But it may be hard for her to repeat that success in Paris this spring. Keys, the fifth-ranked player in the world, has never been a great player on clay with her game translating better to the other surfaces, and that is evidenced by her lack of success during her French Open career. The last five seasons, she has failed to advance past the tournament’s opening week, something I would expect to continue this year.

Qinwen Zheng

Much like Sabalenka and Keys, Qinwen Zheng is a power player who has the tools to dominate on the hard courts, but tends to not translate to clay. While she did win the Paris Olympics Gold Medal on the same courts where the French Open is played, Zheng hasn’t produced the same results at the French Open that she has at the other majors. Her best result was a fourth round exit back in 2022.

SLEEPERS

Alexandra Eala

A player that has caught the attention of the tennis world in 2025 is young Filipina Alexandra Eala, who is already the highest ranked player in her nation’s history, but has much higher goals for her career. A U.S. Open girls singles champion in 2022, Eala has never played in the main draw at a major, but will certainly be in the French Open field based on her success in the early part of the year. She is ranked 72nd in the world and has scored wins over Iga Swiatek, Paula Badosa, Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko, so don’t be surprised to see Eala make a run in Paris.

Jelena Ostapenko

It seems like a lifetime ago, but Jelena Ostapenko is a former French Open Champion. All the way back in 2017, the Latvian teenager shocked a lot of people when she entered the tournament ranked 47th and became the tournament’s first unseeded woman champion since 1933. Now nearly 10 years later, Ostapenko has had an up and down career, but still has the requisite tools to win a major title. She is playing good tennis in 2025, beating the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek en route to winning the title in Stuttgart, and prior to that reached the finals in Doha. That Stuttgart title was pivotal, as she beat the top two players in the world on clay, the perfect preparation for a French Open run.

Sofia Kenin

There was a time when Sofia Kenin was the future of American tennis on the women’s side. As a teenager back in 2020, Kenin won the Australian Open and then reached the finals of the French Open, but in the years since, injuries and a hiatus from tennis action saw her fall off the tennis radar. But Kenin is back competing at a high level and is approaching moving into the Top 30 again. She has always been an effective clay court player, and this spring reached the finals of the Charleston Open, a clay court event. With her experience at the French Open and a return to her past form, Kenin could be out to surprise some people in Paris.