ATP Tour

Who are the players to watch at Roland Garros after Sinner’s loss?

Jannik Sinner entered 2026 Roland Garros as the red-hot favourite to claim the title at the clay major in Paris, but the top-seeded Italian’s trophy bid came to an end Thursday in dramatic fashion against Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

While there are no guarantees when it comes to Grand Slam tennis, the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Sinner’s exit represents a significant opening in the draw in the French capital. ATPTour.com runs through the main contenders looking to forge a title run in the wake of Thursday’s second-round shock.

Novak Djokovic
Djokovic is chasing a record 25th major singles title and his first since the 2023 US Open. While the three-time Roland Garros champion and former World No. 1 has more than enough of a track record of overcoming the world’s best, the Serbian has fallen to either Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz (who is not competing in Paris due to a wrist injury) in each of the four previous Grand Slam events. Now, the 39-year-old has a ‘Sincaraz’-free path to a trophy that would add yet another record to his illustrious career.

Alexander Zverev
One of the most consistent performers on the ATP Tour across the past decade, the 29-year-old Zverev has arguably never had a better chance to claim his maiden major trophy. The German is a three-time Grand Slam finalist, including at Roland Garros in 2024, and marched past Benjamin Bonzi and Tomas Machac in classy fashion across his opening two rounds this year. Although competing impressively in his own right, Zverev has particularly struggled against Sinner in recent seasons and has lost the pair’s past nine Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings dating back to 2024: With Sinner out, can Zverev finally earn his Grand Slam breakthrough in Paris?

Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud is a man who knows what it takes to lift trophies on clay. The Norwegian has won 12 of his 14 ATP Tour crowns on the surface, and at Roland Garros will be aiming to go one step further at an event where he reached the final in 2022 (l. to Nadal) and 2023 (l. to Djokovic). Ruud, who is in the same half of the draw as Djokovic and Zverev, has already had to showcase his clay grit this week to hold off Roman Safiullin in a five-set first-round epic. Now safely into the third round after racing past Hamad Medjedovic, Ruud looks one to watch in the wake of Sinner’s defeat.

Sinner’s section of the draw
Sinner’s exit has potentially transformed 2026 Roland Garros for a host of players in the top seed’s section of the draw. Suddenly, the landscape has changed for players who knew they may have had to play the heavy tournament favourite to make a deep run in Paris. Notable names in Sinner’s quarter of the draw include fifth seed Ben Shelton, who reached the fourth round for the first time last year before falling to eventual champion Alcaraz.

Meanwhile the other players in Sinner’s immediate section of the draw whose path in the tournament looks a little clearer include 14th seed Luciano Darderi. The Italian, a semi-finalist at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome earlier this month, is the highest seed remaining in Sinner's section of the draw and is looking to back up his maiden fourth-round Grand Slam appearance achieved at January's Australian Open.

Other players to watch
A pair of fast-rising #NextGenATP stars have enjoyed memorable starts to Roland Garros and may view Sinner's defeat as one more motivation to continue making a big impact on the Paris clay. The 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar, who is competing at a career-high World No. 29, has dropped just one set across two matches so far on his event debut. Another 19-year-old, Brazilian Joao Fonseca, rallied from two sets down to overcome Dino Prizmic on Wednesday and reach the third round, where he will take on Djokovic. World No. 7 Alex de Minaur, chasing his first major title, also remains alive in Djokovic and Zverev's half of the draw.