French Open 2023: Top Storylines to Track for Entire Tournament Schedule
The 2023 French Open has two multiple champions at Roland Garros in the field.
Iga Świątek is going for her third title in four years, and she is also trying to preserve her No. 1 world ranking.
The three-time major champion must advance to the quarterfinals to have a chance to retain the top spot in the world rankings. She has three straight trips to the final eight.
Aryna Sabalenka leads the list of challengers in the women's singles draw, but few of the top players have had a shot at Świątek in the second weekend in Paris during her title reign.
Novak Djokovic is the only dual winner in the men's singles draw with Rafael Nadal not participating.
The Serb, who won in 2016 and 2021, is on a collision course with top seed Carlos Alcaraz to meet in the semifinals.
The two men's favorites being on one side of the draw means we could see a wide-open race to the final from the bottom half.
The full French Open TV and round schedule can be found here.
Iga Świątek Going for 3rd Title in 4 Years
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Świątek has established dominance on the Paris clay over the last three French Opens.
The 21-year-old is the only woman to reach the French Open quarterfinals in each of the last three years. Coco Gauff and Martina Trevisan are the only women to reach the final eight twice in that span.
Świątek has more to play for than just extending her French Open dominance this year. She also needs to fend off the threat from Sabalenka to her No. 1 world ranking.
The No. 1 seed must reach the quarterfinals to have a chance to stay on top the world rankings. If not, Sabalenka will be No. 1 after the French Open, per WTATennis.com.
Once she reaches the final eight, Świątek has a few other milestones she must hit as long as Sabalenka is in the tournament to retain the No. 1 world ranking.
Simply put, if the Pole repeats as French Open champion for the first time in her career, she will retain the No. 1 spot.
It is hard to imagine Świątek will be beaten at all in Paris because she is 18-1 in the women's singles draw since 2020.
The 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejčíková and 2022 finalist Gauff are in Świątek's quarter of the draw, but both players must avoid the recent string of upsets in Paris before facing Swiatek in the fourth round and quarterfinals.
Will Upsets Rule over Women's Draw Again?
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Świątek's dominance and the string of early upsets for the other top seeds have been the two biggest storylines in the French Open women's singles draw for the last three years.
Only five top-10 seeds have advanced to the quarterfinals in that span. The Polish star is responsible for two of those positions.
No top-10 seed outside of Świątek made it to the final eight in 2021 and 2022, and nine unseeded players have made it that far since 2020.
In 2022, nine of the top 10 seeds were ousted by the third round, including Sabalenka, who has never made it past the third round at Roland Garros.
The upset trend could be broken in 2023 because of the players who are the top seeds.
Five of the top six seeds have at least one quarterfinal berth in Paris, and half of the top 10 women have a semifinal berth on their resumes.
Most of the top 10 women made their deep runs in the event thanks to the cavalcade of upsets in recent years, and now that there is a ton of clay-court experience throughout the top 10, the shock results could go by the wayside and leave us with a star-studded second weekend.
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic
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The men's singles conversation will be dominated by the potential semifinal clash between Alcaraz and Djokovic.
Alcaraz enters as the top seed and with one major title from the 2022 U.S. Open on his resume. He needs 21 more major championships to tie Djokovic.
The 36-year-old has been the dominant force in men's tennis with five titles at the last nine major tournaments.
With Nadal out injured, Djokovic could see the 2023 French Open as an opportunity to land a rare triumph in Paris. He has only won twice during Nadal's run of 14 titles since 2005.
The semifinal clash would mark the first time Alcaraz and Djokovic face each other in a major tournament. The 20-year-old won the only previous meeting on the Madrid clay in 2022.
Alcaraz owns three titles on clay courts this season, and this could be viewed as his best chance to take down Djokovic this season because the Serb fares better on the hard court, a surface on which he earned 13 of his 22 major titles.
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Bottom Half of Men's Draw Could Be Wide Open
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The players in the bottom half of the men's singles draw will avoid Alcaraz and Djokovic until the final.
Whoever emerges from the bottom half only has to face one of those two players to win the French Open title.
That's as easy of a title route you can ask for in a French Open that does not involve Nadal.
Daniil Medvedev will have the most pressure on him to get into the championship match. The No. 2 seed owns a single quarterfinal appearance in six French Opens.
Medvedev comes into Paris with a clay-court title in Rome, which is one of the premier tune-up events for the French Open.
That could be a sign that the No. 2 seed is ready to take the next step at Roland Garros, but there is a chance his old form could come back to haunt him.
Last year's French Open finalist Casper Ruud is among the contenders to beat out Medvedev to the final.
Top 10 seeds Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner each have a quarterfinal appearance at Roland Garros.
The recent success of other top-10 seeds and Medvedev's lack of overall success on clay could open up the draw and produce a third straight first-time men's singles Grand Slam finalist.
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