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With plenty of British interest in the form of Emma Radukanu and Cameron Norrie and a particular focus on qualifier Toby Samuel, Gigi Salmon looks ahead to the French Open! He also discussed an unexpected women’s draw alongside Janic Ciner and Novak Djokovic. it’s all his latest Sky Sports column
The happiest people after Thursday’s draw for the 2026 French Open were the 64 players who found themselves in the bottom half of the men’s draw.
They know they won’t have to face the world number one and currently unstoppable Janic Sinner until the final!
Ciner is unbeaten in 29 matches, five consecutive Masters titles and will be looking to become the seventh man in the Open era to complete a career Grand Slam in Paris next month, an ambition strengthened by the absence of two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
More on Sinner’s potential title run later but let’s start with keeping your eye on the Brits, who they are up against and their chances, bearing in mind that Jack Draper has missed the clay to return to grass with Andy Murray by his side.
Britain’s sole seed will face Cam Norrie and 20th seed Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay, while the only other Briton with direct entry is Jacob Fearnley, who lost to Norrie in the third round in Paris last year.
Fearnley – currently ranked 122 in the world – faces Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundlo, with Fearnley looking for his first win on clay in a year, with the winner likely to face Sinar in the second round.
Who is Toby Samuel?
British qualifier Toby Samuel meets Alex de Minaur in the first round of the French Open
The British title went to 23-year-old Toby Samuel who won through three rounds of qualifying including taking out former world number 7 David Goffin en route to booking a place in the main draw of his first Grand Slam.
Describing his achievement as a “dream come true”, Samuel overcame injury problems that sidelined him for most of the 2024 season, before making a run at the Challenger level that saw him win back-to-back titles before reaching the semi-finals of the Challenger on hard court Madrid earlier this year.
He sits at a career high ranking of No. 159, dropping to nearly 2,000 in 2024 due to injuries.
Fergus Gavin, writing in X, highlighted Samuel’s achievement by becoming only the fourth British man since 1973 to come through the draw to qualify for Roland Garros.
Samuel, who played college tennis at the University of Carolina, will be awarded €87,000 for reaching the first round and €130,000 if he wins the second round.
To do so he will have to overcome world No. 7 Alex de Minaur who enters the tournament having warmed up with a semi-final showing on clay in Hamburg.
Tricky tie for Raducanu
Radukanu missed out on selection in Paris
For the British women, Emma Raducanu just missed out on qualification and will open her campaign against Argentina’s Solana Sierra.
With Andrew Richardson, the coach he last worked with after returning from a viral illness and winning the US Open title in 2021, this will be the first meeting between the two and Radukanu’s second match on clay.
Sierra is a set against Coco Goff recently in Rome and a critical tie with Sierra with 16 matches on clay this year, so it will be interesting to see how Raducanu fares against a potential second-round opponent in 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini.
Joining Radukanu in the main draw is Katie Boulter, winner of the USTA Roland Garros Wildcard Challenge, facing American world number 184 Akasha Urhobo.
The 19-year-old Urhobo is playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Fran Jones faces former French Open semi-finalist and former World No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Mia – who is now struggling for form, so maybe a chance for Jones!
No sleepless night for the sinner?
Can anyone stop the wicked sinner?
Away with the Brit and I must go back to Sinner who finds himself in the same quarter of the draw as top-10 players Ben Shelton and Alexander Bublik. Also in that category is former French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The top half is looking more down and no one will give him a sleepless night!
What can do that weather. This is due to it being very hot in the French capital, conditions that Italians have sometimes struggled with in the past.
I feel like I’m clinging a little, looking for something that can stop Ciner, but without an injured Alcaraz and widening the gap between the top two and the rest, it’s going to take something or someone special.
Novak Djokovic is still chasing history
Could that be Novak Djokovic? He will be happy to be in the opposite half but won’t be overly pleased with his potential route which includes the huge serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetschi Pericard, currently Greg Rusedski, Brazilian prodigy Joao Fonseca and recent Rome runner-up and former Paris finalist Casper Rudd.
Djokovic is still in search of a 25th Grand Slam title but he comes into the tournament with just one clay match, his first outing loss in Rome, and a positive mindset. “The preparations have been positive in the last 10 days, so I’m here and I can’t wait to go to court,” he said.
Sascha Zverev is seeded second and although his draw doesn’t look too bad with Frenchman Hugo Humbert, Taylor Fritz returning from injury and a potential semi-final meeting with Djokovic, there are big question marks over his fitness as he continues to suffer back problems, which saw him pull out of Hamburg. Should he reach the championship match, does he really believe he can beat Cenaar if he faces him? The answer to the recent exhibition is not a resonance!
A first-round match to watch will be Gael Monfils, who opens against Hugo Gaston in the French Open bye. It’s bound to be emotional!
Unexpected women draw
Can Coco Gough defend her title?
The women’s draw has a lot of depth and is very unpredictable.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka, a finalist in Paris last year, made it easy to make it three titles in one run at this year’s Australian Open final.
Maybe a perfect clay swing, which included a quarter-final and third round, would have worked in her favour, with more time to prepare but with the likes of Jessica Pegula, Victoria Mboko, Naomi Osaka and Alex Ilad in the draw department there is danger around every corner.
Defending champion Coco Goff headlines the second quarter of the draw. She brings an 8-3 record on clay into the tournament and her biggest obstacle in the quarterfinals is former Wimbledon and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova, who is returning from injury.
Four-time champion Iga Suetek headlines the bottom half and while he is not the overwhelming favorite this year, he seems to have renewed confidence after spending time with Rafael Nadal at his academy and officially hiring Nadal’s former coach Francis Roig.
And a word about Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who won a title on clay in Stuttgart and reached the quarterfinals in Rome.
I’m always a little wary of backing him because he can be a touch unpredictable, but he has the game and mentality to beat anyone!
As always there are many stories who can beat the sinner? Will Djokovic get closer to Grand Slam number 25? Do Monfils and Stan Wawrinka get a fairytale ending? Can Suatec win the fifth title in the French capital? Will Sabalenka win her first or can Gough successfully defend her?
I can’t wait to get started and be in it and as far as predictions go my king and queen of the Parisian clay for 2026 will be Janic Ciner and Iga Suatek.
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