“Sinner is the favorite at Roland Garros after Alcaraz’s exit.”

Roland Garros is just a week away from starting, and the excitement is already building with the official projections of the seeded players for the second Grand Slam of the season. In a scenario that promises to be explosive, Jannik Sinner takes the top spot in the men’s draw, taking advantage of the unexpected absence of Carlos Alcaraz, which has opened the door for Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to rise in the rankings.

Jannik Sinner, who regained the status of world number one by defeating Alcaraz in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters, leads the seedings for the second consecutive time at the Paris tournament. Although he was defeated by Alcaraz in the final of Roland Garros in 2025, the young Italian promises to make it difficult, now aiming for the achievement of the Career Grand Slam, a feat that would catapult him into the historic elite of tennis.

In the top three favorites, alongside Sinner, are Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic. Zverev, who has been placed on the opposite side of the draw from Sinner, sees this setup as a golden opportunity to finally defeat the Italian, something that has eluded him since the 2023 US Open. Djokovic, for his part, clearly benefits from the withdrawal of Alcaraz, who was the second seed and one of the biggest threats to his reign.

The absence of Alcaraz radically changes the dynamics of the tournament. Zverev, Djokovic, and Sinner gain not only privileged positions in the draw but also a potentially more accessible path to the final stages. In the top 8 of the seeded players, they are joined by names such as Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, and Taylor Fritz, players who can count on a relatively “less tough” schedule in the early rounds.

The organization of the draw maintains the traditional logic of confrontation: from the third round onwards, players among the top eight seeds face opponents ranked between 25 and 32, while those placed between 9th and 16th will compete against players ranked between 17th and 24th. As the tournament progresses, the battles become more intense, with the top four seeds facing players ranked 13th to 16th in the round of 16, and a potential clash with those ranked 5th to 8th in the quarter-finals.

Roland Garros is always unpredictable, and the first week promises surprises and twists on the Parisian clay. Among the standout players guaranteed a spot in the main draw are Italian Open finalist Casper Ruud, British player Cameron Norrie, and newcomers Rafael Jodar and Valentin Vacherot. The latter two are entering the tournament as seeds for the first time, thanks to impressive campaigns over the past year. Vacherot, in particular, shocked the world by winning the Shanghai Masters in 2025, followed by a brilliant performance in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters. Jodar has been a sensation on the clay circuit, with victories in Marrakech, semi-finals in Barcelona, and consecutive quarter-finals in Madrid and Rome.

Meanwhile, heavyweights like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov, and Sebastian Korda are not among the seeded players, meaning they could face strong opponents right from the early rounds, in a start to the tournament that promises to be explosive.

Check out the 32 projected top men’s seeds for Roland Garros 2026:

1. Jannik Sinner

2. Alexander Zverev

3. Novak Djokovic

4. Felix Auger-Aliassime

5. Ben Shelton

6. Daniil Medvedev

7. Taylor Fritz

8. Alex de Minaur

9. Alexander Bublik

10. Flavio Cobolli

11. Andrey Rublev

12. Jiri Lehecka

13. Karen Khachanov

14. Luciano Darderi

15. Casper Ruud

16. Valentin Vacherot

17. Arthur Fils

18. Learner Tien

19. Frances Tiafoe

20. Cameron Norrie

21. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

22. Arthur Rinderknech

23. Tomas Martin Etcheverry

24. Tommy Paul

25. Francisco Cerundolo

26. Jakub Mensik

27. Rafael Jodar

28. Joao Fonseca

29. Tallon Griekspoor

30. Corentin Moutet

31. Brandon Nakashima

32. Ugo Humbert

With this lineup, Roland Garros 2026 promises to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable in recent years. The absence of Alcaraz, combined with Sinner’s rise and Djokovic’s experience, creates an explosive cocktail that will keep fans and experts glued to their screens. Get ready for the battle for the title in Paris, where every point could hold eternal significance in the pantheon of world tennis.

This article first appeared on Apito Final.