2023 French Open – All You Need to Know

The French Open is upon and with less than a week to go before the second Grand Slam of the year gets going, let’s make sure that you know all you need to know about this Gran clay-court event.

There have been some major shakeups going into Roland Garros, not the least one being the absence of its favorite star – Rafael Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam winner a few days ago that he will be missing out on the tournament this year.

Aside from the absence of who many consider to be the ‘King of Clay’, the French swing of the Grand Slams is still sure to be jam-packed and eventful.

Let’s get into it, starting with:

Who’s in the Draw?

There are a total of 128 players in the men’s and 128 players in the women’s draw playing in the French Open this year. There are 32 top-seeded players for both categories.

Starting with the men’s draw – there are 10 top-seeded players, in addition to the unseeded ones. The Top 32 are:

World Number 1, Carlos Alcaraz tops the list, followed by World Number 2, Daniil Medvedev, and then World Number 3, Novak Djokovic.

The Top 10 in the women’s draw on the other hand are:

Like with the men’s seeds, the Top 3 players in the world also top the seeding.

Aside from the men’s and women’s singles, the French Open also has men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, wheelchair men’s singles, wheelchair women’s singles, wheelchair men’s doubles, and wheelchair women’s doubles.

The junior event will also be played with boys’ singles, girls’ singles, boys’ doubles, and girls’ doubles. In addition, Roland Garros also features Men’s Legends Doubles and Women’s Legends Singles.

Who is Missing This Year?

Perhaps the biggest name missing from this year’s draw is 14-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal. A few days ago, he made the sad announcement that he will be missing out on the clay-court Grand Slam as he has not yet fully recovered from the hip injury he sustained at this year’s Australian Open.

Nadal was replaced in the draw by Dominic Thiem. Other players in the men’s draw who have withdrawn include Korean player Kwon Soon-woo, Marin Cilic, Matteo Berrettini, and Pablo Carreno Busta.

Nick Kyrgios and Andy Murray have also pulled out.

In the women’s draw, the players who will be missing out are Simona Halep who is still dealing with a suspension following doping allegations from last year. British number 1 Emma Raducanu has also pulled out as she is still recovering from surgery on her wrists.

Also absent this year are Alison Van Uytavnck, Amanda Anisimova, and Daria Saville.

Who are the Defending Champions?

The defending champions this year are:

Men’s singles – Rafael Nadal
Women’s singles – Iga Swiatek
Men’s Doubles – Marcelo Arevalo, Jean-Julien Rojer
Women’s Doubles – Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic
Mixed Doubles – Ena Shibahara, Wesley Koolhof

Swiatek will be in the draw to defend her title but Nadal won’t be in the draw as he has withdrawn.

Who are the Favorites to Win?

Going into the tournament, favorites to win the men’s draw include top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz and third-seeded Novak Djokovic. Many are also rooting for Daniil Medvedev, especially after his recent win at the Italian Open, which he credited to the use of new racquet strings.

Other favorites are the young hotshots Casper Ruud and Holger Rune. Ruud is last year’s runner-up and will be looking to finish as well if not better this year.

In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek is the clear favorite but hot on her heels in Wimbledon defending champion Elena Rybakina who is fourth-seeded.

Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff, and Caroline Garcia are also favorites. Gauff was the runner-up in the singles last year. She was also the runner-up in the women’s doubles alongside third-seed Jessica Pegula. Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka is a favorite too.

How much is the Pot?

In total, the organizers of the French Open will hand out around US$53 Million or £43 Million. The winners of the men’s and women’s singles draw will receive around £2 Million or around US$2.5 Million.

Here is a breakdown of the prizes this year:

SINGLES

Winner: €2,300,000 / 2,000 points
Finalist: €1,150,000 / 1,200 points
Semi-finalist: €630,000 / 720 points
Quarter-finalist: €400,000 / 360 points
Round of 16: €240,000 / 180 points
Round of 32: €142,000 / 90 points
Round of 64: €97,000 / 45 points
Round of 128: €69,000 / 10 points

DOUBLES (€ per team)

Winner: €590,000 / 2,000 points
Finalist: €295,000/ 1,200 points
Semi-finalist: €148,000 / 720 points
Quarter-finalist: €80,000 / 360 points
Round of 16: €43,000 / 180 points
Round of 32: €27,000 / 90 points
Round of 64: €17,000 / 0 points

How to Watch Online?

If you are not able to watch the French Open matches at Roland Garros, you can always watch the matches online or on TV.

In Europe, it will be available on Eurosport – both on the website and the app. It is also on Discovery+ for those in the UK. For people in France, you can watch it on France Sport TV. Amazon Prime Video also carries it.

For those in the United States, the matches will be available on NBC, Peacock TV, Tennis TV Channel, and Bally Sport. Those in Canada can watch it on RDS and TSN.

ESPN and Canal+ will also broadcast the matches – a great option for those in South America and other parts of the World. If you are in Australia, it will be shown on Channel 9. It will be on Sky in New Zealand, CCTV in China, Sony Ten in India, and WOWOW in Japan.

If you are not in any of the countries mentioned, you can use a VPN to watch the matches online or you can go to TennisTV.

The order of play for the day will be released the day before. Both the men’s and women’s finals will start at 15:00 local time.

The tournament will run from May 28. The night sessions will go from May 29 to June 7.

If you don’t mind watching recaps, you can watch them online via Tennis TV. You can also watch from highlight reels on the ATP and WTA YouTube Channels. TennisTV’s YouTube Channel will also likely release recaps.

What is the Schedule for Roland Garros?

Here is a rough overview of the schedule of play for this year’s tournament.

Qualifying Rounds:

Monday, 22 May–Friday, 26 May
Monday-Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Thursday & Friday at 11 a.m.

Main Draw:

Sunday, 28 May–Sunday, 11 June.

Matches on Court Philippe-Chatrier will start at 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. depending on the day. 11 a.m. start on all other courts.

Night session (one singles match): Sunday 28 May not before 7 p.m. Monday 29 May–Wednesday 7 June not before 8:30 p.m.

Doubles Final: Saturday, 10 June, starting following the women’s singles final.

Singles Final: Sunday 11 June, not before 3 p.m.