Beyond Jannik Sinner: Marin Cilic identifies two players poised to benefit from Carlos Alcaraz’s exit

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With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury, the rest of the ATP Tour may be looking at a real chance to step up.

The Spaniard picked up a wrist issue at the Barcelona Open and has now pulled out of Roland Garros.

He was aiming for a third straight French Open title after beating Jannik Sinner in last year’s final, but his absence has opened up the draw.

Sinner suddenly finds himself with a clearer path to not only his first Roland Garros crown but also the Career Grand Slam.

But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Marin Cilic, speaking on the Tennis Majors podcast, pointed out two players he thinks could challenge Sinner.

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Marin Cilic reacts to Carlos Alcaraz pulling out of Roland Garros

Cilic was asked during a Tennis Channel interview if he thought the French Open draw had opened up following Alcaraz’s withdrawal. He responded: “Yeah, absolutely.

“Because, you know, you can’t hide from the fact that Jannik and Carlos were dominating the game in the last, whatever, 18 months.

“And now, from him being on the sidelines, obviously, it’s a bigger motivation for Jannik to try to win the only missing Slam in his cabinet and for the rest of the guys as well.

“You can also see Zverev is being really consistent now, playing in the final of Madrid. He’s giving himself enough chances. If he’s gonna take it, you know, you never know, but he’s playing great tennis.

“You know, you always have a few guys that are playing unbelievably on clay, like Casper Ruud, he always loves those Roland Garros court conditions. Yeah, we’ll see, you know, just, from my own end, I’ll try to get back in there.”

Sinner is now favoured to win his first title at Roland Garros this year after reaching two previous finals – both times losing to Alcaraz in 2024 and 2025.

Zverev is still searching for his first Grand Slam title after three final appearances at Wimbledon (2023) and Roland Garros (2022 & 2023). Meanwhile, Ruud is looking to improve upon two final defeats in Paris in back-to-back years (2022 & 2023).

Which current players have experience in the French Open final?

Beyond Alcaraz and Sinner, there are only four other active players who have reached the French Open final.

Stan Wawrinka, who plans to retire at the end of this season, has been there twice and won the title back in 2015.

While Wawrinka isn’t expected to challenge for the trophy this year, Novak Djokovic remains a serious contender. The Serbian has lifted the Roland Garros trophy three times, starting with his first win in 2016.

The other two players to reach the final are Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Ruud lost consecutive finals in 2022 and 2023 to Nadal and Djokovic respectively. Tsitsipas was beaten by Djokovic in five sets in 2021 after taking a two-set lead.

Read more:

• Daniil Medvedev breaks down why Jannik Sinner’s supremacy is more surprising than Carlos Alcaraz’s
• Casper Ruud leans toward Rome, snubs Madrid’s conditions
• What gave Felix Auger-Aliassime a confidence boost in his match with Jannik Sinner