4 men’s French Open finalists, ranked, with eyes on epic Djokovic vs. Alcaraz showdown

Djokovic vs. Alcaraz showdown highlights final four in men’s French Open

Rafael Nadal is not playing the French Open this year, and with his absence comes a new air. Or, dare it be said, a new heir?

At only 20-years-old, Nadal’s countryman Carlos Alcaraz is the betting favorite to win the tournament as we enter the semifinals. Alcaraz is the current world No. 1 and defending U.S. Open champion. Though it is his ‘only’ grand slam title so far, he also boasts nine other career tournament wins, including four Masters 1000 events.

These tournaments are just one tier below the slams in terms of prestige and significance, and it is relevant to mention three of his four Masters championships came on clay (two this year).

Here are the odds of the remaining players’ chances to win this year’s tournament, in reverse order.

4) Casper Ruud (4-seed, Norway)

Despite the best finish out of any of the four remaining players in 2022’s French Open (runner up), Ruud has the longest odds of anyone left in the bracket. The meanest and most complimentary thing you can say about his game is he’s solid. Don’t get that wrong, he’s the best of the solid, but he’s still just solid. Solid serve, solid backhand, and a very steady demeanor.

“I’ve said to myself when I started on tour that I will try to go my full career without maybe breaking a racquet on tour,” he said. “I can only name one player of the top 10 who has done that, and it’s Nadal. Federer also has been exceptional, except one time in Miami that he broke the racquet. Those two guys have been exceptional in their behavior.”

He is known as one of the nicest guys on tour for a reason. If he wants to win the title, it will be his forehand, movement, and experience that get him there. That said, it is unclear how much he really can even draw from 2022’s thrashing against Rafael Nadal.

Ruud won just six games total and was bageled in the last set, in a very lopsided 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 finals defeat. Still, he did make another in 2022, losing to Alcaraz in the aforementioned U.S. Open final (this time in four sets).

3) Alexander Zverev (22-seed, Germany)

Like Casper Ruud, Alexander “Sascha” Zverev was also eliminated from the 2022 French Open by Rafael Nadal. The difference?

And unlike Paul Pierce, Zverev’s injury was legitimate. The damaged ligaments in his ankle sidelined him for nearly six months. Fun fact: though he played only two sets against Nadal to Ruud’s three, the German won twice as many games in the truncated match.

Being a bit underseeded following the injury, Zverev had to earn his spot in the semis, notching wins against 12-seed Francis Tiafoe and 28-seed Grigor “Baby Fed” Dimitrov. Standing at 6-6, he is the tallest semifinalist and ace leader of the group (ranking No. 15 of all ATP players in 2023). Though his first serve can be his biggest weapon at times, he notoriously busted out a 68 mph second serve in his U.S. Open finals loss to Dominic Thiem, and he is also the 2023 double faults leader of this group.

2) Novak Djokovic (3-seed, Serbia)

Though the all-time grand slam chase dominates nearly all tennis discussion in the same way Ringz Culture permeates NBA discourse, there really hasn’t been much made about Novak Djokovic’s potential to separate himself from Nadal as the lone slam leader following this tournament. Both men sit at 22, and a title at Rolland Garros would make Djokovic the first man to ever hit 23 and first tennis player to get there since Serena Williams. Only the tendentious Margaret Court, at 24, has more.

That sounds big, right? Well, somehow, it is the buzz around his semifinals match against Alcaraz that has sucked up nearly all of the oxygen on the men’s side of the bracket so far. And, honestly, it’s beyond deserved (more on this later).

After winning Adelaide and the Australian Open to start the year, Djokovic hasn’t made it past the quarterfinals of any subsequent tournament, even withdrawing from two. Still, at this point in his career, it’s all about the slams, and he looks right at this tournament.

Now 36-years-old, age doesn’t seem to ever come up with him in the way it did with Roger Federer and still does with Nadal. And as physically sound as the Serb has looked, it might be the mental side that’s most polished: per Matt Roberts of the Tennis Podcast, Djokovic has played 47 tiebreak points in this year’s French Open and has zero unforced errors (this included a 7-0 dusting of 11-seed Karen Khachanov in the second set of their quarterfinal match).

Still, it wouldn’t be a Djokovic tournament without Weird Stuff. This year, it’s a device on his chest.

Further research turned this up:

The tennis star added he was trying to “impersonate” Marvel superhero Iron Man, saying he liked the character a lot when he was a kid.

Tao Technologies, an Italian company that sells the “TaoPatch” Djokovic used, claimed on Twitter the tiny disc is “activated by sunlight and body heat” and its “nanocrystals emit photons towards the body providing several health benefits.”

On its website, the company claims the TaoPatch “nourishes the body with wavelengths of therapeutic light, without side effects or the release of any chemicals.”

To back its claims, the company points to a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Minerva Medica, although the cited abstract only mentions preliminary findings.

So yeah, he’s once again in his snake oil salesman era (as if he ever left).

1) Carlos Alcaraz (1-seed, Spain)

Carlos Alcaraz was born only two years before Nadal won his first French Open, and, already, it looks like he is primed to succeed him as the heir to the clay surface and beyond. It’s just a matter of when, not if.

He is of the best movers on the court you will ever see…

…and his sublime court coverage is somehow matched – and occasionally bested – by his atomic forehand…

…and the second you’re backpedaling to try to contest that, he drop shots you.

Clay court rallies last the longest of any surface, and having both forceful and faint point enders in his bag will be a tremendous asset in his semifinals match against Djokovic. It still is a little mind-blowing to think he is favored against a 22-time slam winner, but there he is and here we are. Alcaraz dispatched 5-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals in straight sets and called it “one of the best matches” of his career.

The two men have never met in a slam before, so this match is significant for that and many other reasons. It does warrant mentioning Alcaraz’s 1-0 record against Djokovic did come on clay (winning the tightly contested Madrid 2022 semifinal, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 in the best of three set format). The third set came down to a tiebreaker, only adding intrigue as hype to this match reaches a fever pitch.

If Djokovic is able to top the Spaniard, he is the clear favorite in the final and stands to be the first man to ever win each slam three times or more (plus, you know, No. 23). If Alcaraz wins, he will be a tidy 2-0 against the Serb, and it will likely give early ammunition to the future GOAT debate – a powder keg just waiting for a hint of a spark – if he can cap it with a title in Paris. And, honestly, even if he doesn’t win the title, a victory against Djokovic in a slam would still be a massive statement in a career primed for many.

And, in May of 2024, he can celebrate by legally buying his first drink.

In America, at least.