The 2026 Roland-Garros singles men's draw, made on Thursday, sees last year's runner-up Jannik Sinner, chasing the Career Grand Slam, drawn in opposite halves to three-time champion Novak Djokovic, who faces a challenging path to an unprecedented 25th Slam in Paris.
Following his scenematic run in Rome, becoming the first man to claim six consecutive Masters 1000 titles, Jannik Sinner arrived at the French Open as the natural favorite to lift the prestigious Coupe des Mousquetaires.
With two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz unable to compete due to a right wrist injury, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and world No. 3 Alexander Zverev also surge as strong contenders to reach the final.
However, the path to glory on French soil is arduous, and anything can happen along the way in the clay court major.
The 24-year-old will launch his campaign against French wild card Clement Tabur, who this week qualified for the Gonet Geneva Open, falling in a gruelling three-setter opening round to Australian Alexei Popyrin.
The world No. No. 165 will make his second appearance in the Roland-Garros main draw, meeting the world number one for the first time.
In round two, Sinner could either face Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo or Brit Jacob Fearnley, who has been struggling to get through the first round in the tournaments he has played in a season disrupted by injuries.
From an intriguing clash between Frenchman Corentin Moutet and Spaniard Martin Landaluce, a potential third-round opponent may surge.
In the projected quarterfinals, the four-time major champion is seeded to play fifth seed Ben Shelton.
There is no such thing as an easy draw, but looking at Djokovic's path, to say it's challenging is an understatement.
The Serbian player will set off action against big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Should he navigate out of danger, the third seed will be on course to a maiden encounter with world No. 73 Valentin Royer.
Still in the early rounds, the names of the 28th seed Joao Fonseca and two-time Roland-Garros finalist Casper Ruud are looming.
In the quarterfinals, Djokovic is projected to play eighth seed Alex de Minaur; the 38-year-old leads their series 3-1, but they have never faced one another before at the clay Slam.
Also, having landed in the same half of the draw, the man who recently announced the addition of Viktor Troicki to his team is on a collision course with second seed Zverev for the semifinals.
Should the Belgrade native reach the championship match in his historic quest to capture a career record 25th Grand Slam, the nearly unbeaten Italian force could be the one to deny the Paris Olympics gold medalist the feat.
Looking ahead, the German could only meet with Djokovic in the semis, and Sinner in the final, but first, the 2024 runner-up will open proceedings against world No. 98 Benjamin Bonzi.
Finally, a first-round box office will mark Stan Wawrinka's final appearance as a professional player at the venue where, in 2015, the 41-year-old earned the triumph, courtesy of his finest game.
He will open proceedings against the 17th seed Arthur Fils, who retired from his third-round match at the Italian Open due to a physical issue when his opponent led 4-0 in the first set.
Afterwards, the 21-year-old wrote in a social media post: "Felt something during the match in Rome. I ran all the tests with the team, and everything is clear. Already back to work for Paris. Thanks for the messages."
The world No. 19 has gone from strength to strength since his comeback to action last February, sidelined from the Tour for eight months due to a lower-back stress fracture.
Ever since, he has built his way back in impressive form, playing high-level tennis while showcasing great athleticism.
The incident in Rome seemed like a precaution ahead of his home Slam; his first test against Wawrinka will tell where he is in terms of fitness.
Onwards!