Casper Ruud leads Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic in race for unique milestone

The French Open 2025 is set to start in about a month’s time, where top players from all over the world will participate to showcase their talent and secure the ultimate prize. The second Grand Slam of the year will be played from May 25 to June 08 in the capital of France, Paris.

Just like every year, there will be a lot of focus on who will start the competition. One of the favourites would be defending champion Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the title last year after beating Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2. Another player who will definitely be in contention to win the title would be the reigning world number one, Jannik Sinner.

The 23-year-old, who will be the top seed in the competition, is set to return to tennis just before the start of the Rome Masters next month after spending three months on the sidelines following an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for failing two dope tests in March last year. Former world number one Novak Djokovic, Serbia's greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles, will also be a name to watch closely.

However, interestingly, none of these players is the most successful at the French Open over the last five years. The player with the most wins at the Roland Garros in the last five years is Norway’s Casper Ruud. The 26-year-old secured 120 wins during that period, the most by any player in the competition. He finished runner-up twice in the competition, in 2022 and 2023. His first final defeat was against the former world number one, Rafael Nadal, whereas his second final defeat came against Djokovic. Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas is the second on the list with 94 wins.