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ROLAND GARROS – After one of the most entertaining Roland Garros events on the men’s side in recent memory, the second Grand Slam of season came to a close with one of the best Grand Slam finals ever played.
Down two sets to none and three matches on his serve in the fourth set, Carlos Alcaraz defended his title and sent Jannik Sinner packing after nearly 5 1/2 hours. it was … epic. Without hyperbole.
Beyond that – a lot of moves, including a bunch in the top 10 as tennis now turns to grass.
Jack Draper (GBR): No. 5 ===========> No. 4 (Not quite the Roland Garros he wanted, losing in the round of 16. But Draper is now an official member of the top four).
Novak Djokovic (SRB): No. 6 ===========> No. 5 (A semifinal was great, but not what the 24-time major champion wanted in Paris. He just ran into the buzzsaw that is Sinner. It was always going to be an uphill battle – needing to beat No. 3 Zverev, No. 1 Sinner and then No. 2 Alcaraz in the final. Still – he’s going to find himself at the mercy of the draw in terms of a quarterfinal opponent at Wimbledon. And this time, he might not luck out with Zverev).
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA): No. 7 ===========> No. 6 (A great Paris – and clay-court season overall – for Musetti, who came up hurt in the semifinal against Alcaraz).
Tommy Paul (USA): No. 12 ===========> No. 8 (Paul was far from 100 per cent in the quarterfinal loss to Alcaraz. Still, he wa a quarterfinalist, and that gets him to a new career high at age 28).
Frances Tiafoe (USA): No. 16 ===========> No. 13 (Of all the American results, Tiafoe making the quarterfinals is probably the biggest surprise. He makes a nice move up).
Alexei Popyrin (AUS): No. 25 ===========> No. 21 (A fourth round moves Popyrin, 25, up to a new career high and just 50 points out of the top 20).
Alexander Bublik (KAZ): No. 62 ===========> No. 43 (Bublik gave fans all the feels in an incredible win over Alex de Minaur in the second round, coming back from two sets to none down. And then another in the fourth round over Draper. Unfortunately he had nothing left for Sinner in the quarters. Still. A great result for him).
Quentin Halys (FRA): No. 52 ===========> No. 47 (Halys, 28, reaches a career high and is finally into the top 50 by making the third round in Paris. He defeated Machac, and Kecmanovic, before losing to Holger Rune in five sets).
Jacob Fearnley (GBR): No. 55 ===========> No. 49 (Just like that, the 23-year-old Brit is into the top 50 after making the third round in Paris).
Joao Fonseca (BRA): No. 65===========> No. 57 (Fonseca began with a bang by upsetting Hubert Hurkacz to open his first Roland Garros main draw – and no wild card needed. He fell to Jack Draper in the third round, but moves to a career high).
Cameron Norrie (GBR): No. 81 ===========> No. 60 (The 29-year-old is having a bit of a renaissance, and makes the fourth round before losing to Djokovic).
Ethan Quinn (USA): No. 106 ===========> No. 96 (Quinn, 21, qualified and made the third round in his first Roland Garros main draw. He beat Dimitrov on retirement, Shevchenko in five sets and then went down to Griekspoor in the third round, also in five sets).
Henrique Rocha (POR): No. 200 ===========> No. 149 (The 21-year-old from Portugal qualified, beat Basilashvili in five sets and came back from 0-2 down to beat Mensik in five before falling in the third round in his first Roland Garros – his first Grand Slam – main draw).
Ignacio Buse (PER): No. 192 ===========> No. 152 (Buse, who lost in the first round of qualifying in Paris, made the quarters at a Challenger in Vincenza the first week, and won the Challenger in Heilbronn the second week, makes a big move to a new career high at age 21).
Jack Draper (GBR) (No. 4)
Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) (No. 6)
Tommy Paul (USA) (No. 8)
Jakub Mensik (CZE) (No. 17)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) (No. 21)
Quentin Halys (FRA) (No. 47)
Jacob Fearnley (GBR) (No. 49)
Joao Fonseca (BRA) (No. 57)
Ethan Quinn (USA) (No. 96)
Taylor Fritz (USA): No. 4 ===========> No. 7 (A shocker for Fritz, who was bundled out of the French by Daniel Altmaier in the first round. With the other results, and him defending quarterfinal points, he drops three spots).
Casper Ruud (NOR): No. 8 ===========> No. 16 (A tumble for Ruud, who lost in the second round to Nuno Borges. He drops 750 points, and is now at his lowest ranking since March 2022. He joins contemporaries Tsitsipas and Medvedev in that slow drop out of the top 10).
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE): No. 20 ===========> No. 26 (First a fall out of the top 10, then the top 15 and now the top 20 for Tsitsipas, for whom the “Goran Ivanisevic era” begins on the grass).
Hubert Hurkacz (POL): No. 28 ===========> No. 32 (Hurkacz is on the bubble for a seed in Wimbledeon as he arrived in Paris late, after reaching the final in Geneva and giving it evereything he had in a marathon final loss to Djokovic. And then running into up-and-comer Fonseca in the first round).
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