French Open Men's Singles: 80/1 tip can give us a run at Roland Garros

• Alcaraz clearly the top dog on clay

• This tournament has come too soon for Sinner

• Fils and Rune my surprise selections for a big odds winner

Alcaraz the new Spanish King of Clay 

After an era of Roland Garros dominance by King of Clay Rafael Nadal, his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz has quickly filled the vacant throne.

The 22-year-old already has four Grand Slam titles on his mantelpiece and starts a deserving - if incredibly short odds and unappealing - 2.285/4 favourite on the Betfair Exchange to leave Paris with a fifth major crown.

Alcaraz has proven in the past two years that there is no better player on the natural clay and grass surfaces. His recent triumphs in Monte Carlo and Rome leave little doubt of who the player to beat is.

His generational rival Jannik Sinner is on the comeback trail after a three month drug ban expired prior to the event in the Italian capital. Sinner made the final but his defeat to Alcaraz, which ended an incredible 26 match winning run, showed that for all his quality he's not yet up to full fitness.

It'll take a good player to defeat Sinner, but opposing the world number one is where betting value is likely to be found.

Who can beat Jannik?

There's no disputing that Jannik Sinner is head and shoulders above the field on hard courts where he has amassed 24 of his career titles. On clay he has a relatively meagre one title.

Form, fitness and the recent ban have all curtailed his progress on this surface over recent seasons. ELO ratings assume Sinner is the second best clay courter on the planet, although there is a lack of silverware to confirm that opinion.

Over the past 52 weeks Sinner has been an all but unstoppable force, losing only five matches - three of which were to Alcaraz. The list of players that can realistically beat Sinner is very short. 

However, this is a complicated draw for the Italian, loaded with clay court specialists that are capable of beating anyone on their day. His quarter is laden with guys like Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Andrey Rublev, Jakub Mensik, Joao Fonseca and Jack Draper who all have a big performance in them. If Sinner isn't at full sharpness and they have a good day an upset is not impossible.

Low expectations for Djokovic and Zverev 

That is before mentioning that Sinner's half contains both 2024 finalist Alexander Zverev and the legendary Novak Djokovic. 

Zverev's form is all over the place and while you mustn't discount him, he was on a charge this time last year prior to his final run. The German slumped to an early defeat - one of many in 2025 - at his home tournament of Hamburg this week, and is also suffering from fever and illness.  

Djokovic on the other hand is struggling to stay fit enough for long enough, faltering the deeper he goes into the physically draining best of five Slam format. Novak has nothing to prove, and on the site of his career completing Olympic Gold medal he may find the inspiration once again. It does, however, feel we are nearing the end of Djokovic's career.

Long odds on Cerundolo

Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo is a highly talented clay courter and has made the fourth round on his past two visits to Paris. Should he again reach that stage this time round he will face Zverev, who he holds a perfect 3-0 record against.

Cerundolo is an old school attacking clay court baseliner, living and dying by the quality of his forehand. His talent is unquestionable, but his emotions can often be his undoing.

He has the game to beat anyone on a clay court and my hope is that he can avenge a five set defeat to a hobbled Djokovic should they meet in the quarter-final, before a potential semi-final meeting with the winner of Sinner's quarter.

It might be stretching the imagination but at 80/181.00 there are worse Each Way picks than the Argentine.

Can Rune surprise?

Holger Rune is the same age as Alcaraz, and back in 2019 it was the Dane who won the Junior French Open.

I am very high on the potential of Rune, who has an unorthodox playing style and I believe has the required talent to pick up a Grand Slam title somewhere along the way.

He is flying under the radar after dropping down the rankings this past year, and will arrive in Paris potentially undercooked after illness disrupted his clay campaign 

When Rune is good (and healthy), he is very good. Just ask Alcaraz who suffered his one and only defeat of this clay season against Rune. It wasn't even an underperformance from Alcaraz, who was second best to a strong demonstration of Rune's talent.

Rune has landed in the third quarter of the draw and this is a winnable section with Lorenzo Musetti and Taylor Fritz installed as the highest seeds. 

Fritz is bang out of form, while Musetti's capitulations at the business end of Rome and Madrid will be difficult for him to shake off.

Alcaraz is a deserving, if short favourite to win this half of the draw, and Rune can surprise by upsetting the odds at 22/123.00 to reach the final.

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