Unfortunately, the greatest clay court player in the history of men’s tennis will not be in action at this event. Rafael Nadal announced that he will miss the French Open due to injury for the first time in his long career on Thursday morning. Nadal has been dealing with a lot of injuries over the last few years, and he will turn 37 in just two weeks’ time. The 14-time French Open champion did state that he will return for the 2024 French Open, but he noted that will probably be his last appearance as a competitor at Roland Garros.
2023 Men’s French Open Betting Odds
Carlos Alcaraz +125
Novak Djokovic +190
Stefanos Tsitsipas +825
Holger Rune +825
Jannik Sinner +1400
Casper Ruud +1800
Daniil Medvedev +2200
Andrey Rublev +3600
Alexander Zverev +4000
Felix Auger-Aliassime +7000
Francisco Cerundolo +7000
Lorenzo Musetti +7500
Dominic Thiem +8500
Karen Khachanov +9000
All other players are listed at odds of +10000 or more.
Nadal’s absence throws the door wide open for a first-time winner of this major. We saw Nadal win this event in 14 of the last 18 years with only three other players emerging victorious at Roland Garros. Roger Federer won the 2009 French Open, Novak Djokovic won the event in 2016 and 2021, and Stan Wawrinka won the 2015 French Open. Nadal is so dominant on clay that he smashed Casper Ruud in last year’s final 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
The young Carlos Alcaraz is looking to establish himself as the new Nadal. He was actually favored over Nadal at last year’s French Open, and the 2022 US Open winner made the quarterfinals of last year’s French Open before falling to Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz turned 20 years old earlier this month, and he became the youngest No. 1 overall player on the ATP Tour last year after his win at the US Open. He won his 10th career event with a victory at the Madrid Open a week and a half ago, and he defeated Alexander Zverev, Karen Khachanov, and Borna Coric in straight sets on the way to the fnal.
Novak Djokovic is the other favorite as a two-time winner at Roland Garros. Djokovic is tied with Nadal as the most successful Grand Slam champion in men’s tennis history with 22 major victories. He won the 2023 Australian Open and claimed his 21st major at Wimbledon last summer, and he is hungry to break his tie with Nadal as the greatest tennis player in the modern era. As with Nadal and Roger Federer before him, Djokovic knows that he is running out of chances as he is turning 36 in a few days.
Holger Rune was the top-ranked junior player in the world in October 2019, and he turned pro at the age of 16 in 2020. Rune won his first ATP title in 2021, and he claimed three titles last year, but his biggest success was probably his run to the quarterfinals at the 2022 French Open. We saw Rune beat Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to the quarters before falling to eventual runner-up Casper Ruud. He is now a top ten player in the world, and he made the Monte Carlo Masters before winning the BMW Open to show his strength on clay.
Will this be the first time that Stefanos Tsitsipas wins a major? Tsitsipas is currently ranked No. 5 on the ATP Tour and made it to the finals of the 2023 Australian Open and the 2021 French Open. However, the 24-year-old has continually been stymied by the Big Three in his professional career. This is probably his best chance to win a major yet, and he is a solid bet at 10-1.
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