Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner snubbed in favor of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Jelena Ostapenko by Paul McNamee: French Open 2024
Former Australian star Paul McNamee named his final matchups for the French Open 2024. In men’s singles, he predicted that World No.1 Novak Djokovic would be up against young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. In women’s singles, the veteran picked World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and Jelena Ostapenko as his two finalists.
Interestingly, McNamee left out women’s World No.1 Iga Swiatek and Italian sensation Jannik Sinner from the list of finalists, despite the duo being among the top two seeds in their respective categories.
“With Roland Garros about to start, on the beautiful terre battu in the heart of Springtime in Paris, here are my finals matchups: Men’s: Djokovic v Alcaraz Women’s: Ostapenko v Sabalenka. To all players, play well, and may the best man/woman win. See you in Paris,” McNamee wrote on X.
Djokovic is currently the defending champion but has not won any title this season. Recently, he failed to progress in the Geneva Open after losing to Tomas Machac in the semifinals.
Sabalenka has not had much to cheer for in the French Open, but her recent performances on clay should boost her confidence. Recently, she finished as the runners-up in Madrid and Rome, losing both times to Swiatek. In Madrid, Sabalenka got herself multiple championship points but failed to take down the top-ranked star.
Alcaraz has struggled with the forearm injury that he sustained earlier in 2024. He also missed the Italian Open due to the same injury. His last competitive match was in Madrid where he lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets in the quarterfinal. Last year, Alcaraz crashed out of Roland Garros after losing to Djokovic in the semifinal.
As far as Ostapenko is concerned, she won the French Open back in 2017, her only Grand Slam title until now. Currently ranked No.11 in the world, she will go into the upcoming major after a quarter-final defeat to Sabalenka in the Italian Open. Ostapenko will be up against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian in the opening-round match on Sunday.
How Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner have performed ahead of French Open 2024
Iga Swiatek has won four titles so far in 2024 - all WTA 1000s in Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome.
She has won the French Open three times, two of which came in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. Being in incredible form this season, having won both claycourt WTA 1000s trophies, Swiatek is looking for a hat-trick in the French Open.
The enigmatic Chris Evert currently holds the record for most titles at Roland Garros (7) in the women’s circuit. The veteran recently backed Swiatek to break her long-standing record. Swiatek will face France's Leolia Jeanjean in the first round.
Jannik Sinner, on the other hand, won the Australian Open earlier this year at the Rod Laver Arena and his career took off from there. He also won two other titles in Rotterdam and Miami.
The youngster, who has won 28 of his 30 matches this season, now has a chance to topple Djokovic, also the defending champion, as the new men’s World No.1. He will start his campaign against USA's Christopher Eubanks.