POTENTIAL RANKING RISERS AND SLIDERS AT ROLAND-GARROS

Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates his first-round win in Paris. (Getty/Daniel Kopatsch)

Big-hitting Brit Jack Draper's rise could continue at Roland-Garros this fortnight following a breakthrough season, which has included a maiden Masters 1000 triumph and another two tour-level finals.

Aussie Alexei Popyrin will be keen to bank some points while perennial top-tenner Casper Ruud and temperamental Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas are among those who face pressure to get some wins at the second Grand Slam of the year.

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Below, The First Serve takes a look at the names who have the biggest opportunities and those who will feel some heat at the French Open, based on their draw and ranking.

Feeling heat

Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz is in here by default more than anything, having won last year's tournament and given that there was some unrealised hope he would be able to capitalise on Jannik Sinner's ban by reclaiming the No.1 ranking. While there is always an expectation around one of the faces of the sport, he won't drop below No.3 regardless.

Alexander Zverev

Currently, Zverev is comfortably the third-ranked player in the world, with a significant buffer between himself and fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz.

But having reached the French Open final last year, he could be brought back towards the chasing pack with an early exit, particularly given the form of Draper, who isn't defending any points at the tournament.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic finally found some form last week, taking out the Geneva Open title after some uncharacteristic early exits in between a run to the Miami Masters 1000 final. On paper, his year looks strong, with an Australian Open semi-final run also part of his campaign, but such are the high standards Djokovic sets, it feels like an early exit at Roland-Garros would be scrutinised heavily.

Positively for Djokovic, he is defending a quarter-final appearance – modest by his standards – but he would still be at risk of falling to the fringe of the top-10 with a first-week exit.

Casper Ruud

Broke through for a maiden Masters 1000 triumph in Madrid before a quarter-final appearance in Rome, which would lessen the rankings slump of an early French Open elimination, but he still has points to defend. Reached the semi-final last year, so needs to reach the second week to maintain his grip on a top-10 ranking.

Alex de Minaur

The uber-consistent Aussie will face an uphill battle to maintain his spot in the top-10, with in-form Draper likely awaiting him should he reach the fourth-round. Having reached the last eight 12 months ago and with some players around him defending fewer points, a loss to Draper could result in de Minaur sliding outside the top-10.

While his form has been bankable early in 2025, the inability to break through for a title has kept some pressure on him to keep going deep, which remains the case at the French Open.

Grigor Dimitrov

Started to find some form in Miami, where he played his best tennis of the year, and showed some positive signs in Monte Carlo too, but is hovering around the fringe of the top-20, the lowest he has been for two years.

He risks plummeting into a tight logjam of players fighting to stay seeded for the big tournaments if he doesn't take care of business in Paris.

Daniil Medvedev

Medevdev recently declared he is playing as well as he ever has on clay, but will likely have some tough matchups in the first week. Cameron Norrie is one of the most dangerous unseeded players, swashbuckling Frenchman Ugo Humbert is a possible third-round opponent, and he'll likely need to clear Djokovic in the round of 16.

Failing to defend his fourth-round showing would almost certainly lead to him leaving Roland-Garros with his lowest ranking since 2019.  

Stefanos Tsitsipas

The big faller of 2025 so far, Tsitsipas is currently sitting at world No.20, the lowest he has been since mid-2018. He has progressed beyond the quarter-finals at just one tournament this year and is defending a quarter-final appearance at Roland-Garros, and it would take his absolute best to get there this year, with Ben Shelton and Alcaraz likely third and fourth round opponents, respectively.

An opportunity awaits

Jack Draper

Ranked five in the world after a breakthrough 12 months, Draper has an excellent opportunity to cement his status among the world's best with an honourable showing at Roland-Garros.

He has never previously won a match at the tournament, having traditionally struggled on clay, but looked a different player on the surface to previous years during a run to the Madrid Masters 1000 final recently. The 23-year-old has the opportunity to warm into the tournament before potential clashes with de Minaur and Sinner await in the fourth-round and quarter-finals, respectively.

Alexei Popyrin

Eliminated in the first-round of the French Open last year means this year's tournament should be viewed as an opportunity to gain valuable points, which could provide a short-term minor rankings spike, but more critically will ease pressure later in the year when there are more points to defend.

He defeated Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5 6-4 2-1, as an unfortunate walkover handed the Aussie victory to progress to the next round.

Lorenzo Musetti

The 23-year-old Italian comes in on a tear, having reached the semi-final or better at his three clay Masters 1000 tournaments leading into Roland-Garros. It has elevated him to a career-high ranking of world No.8, and if he maintains his current streak, he will be hard to beat, with Holger Rune a potential quarter-final opponent.

Ugo Humbert

Eliminated in the first round of last year's French Open, Humbert defeated journeyman Aussie Christopher O'Connell in the first-round, setting up a clash against Jacob Fearnley.

While a quiet season so far has pushed the exciting Frenchman outside the top-20, he will be favoured to reach at least the third-round, where he is slated to face Medvedev, who is known to be vulnerable on the red dust.

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