Before Roland Garros began, the men’s draw felt like a foregone conclusion.
After all, Jannik Sinner seemed unbeatable, with the world number having carved through player after player, winning five straight Masters 1000 titles in the process.
However, few could have predicted just how dramatic his exit from this Grand Slam would be, surrendering a two-set lead whilst 5-1 up in the third.
It was one of the most inexplicable and sensational collapses in tennis history, and has subsequently blown the men’s draw wide open.
Andy Roddick has now sought to make sense of the aftermath of this shock exit.
Andy Roddick predicts how the men’s Roland Garros draw will now play out
This was a moment which sent shockwaves throughout the tennis world, with Casper Ruud reacting to both Sinner and Novak Djokovic’s exits recently, as one of the new favourites to win the title.
However, when speaking on the latest episode of his Served with Andy Roddick podcast, the American actually opted for another big name as his champion.
Who is your favourite to win the French Open now that Jannik Sinner has been eliminated?
Delving through the draw, Roddick first put Felix Auger-Aliassime through past Alejandro Tabilo, before then backing the Canadian to beat Flavio Cobolli in his theoretical semi-finals.
He claimed: “I think FAA, with his serve, gets through Cobolli. I think if it’s someone neutral who gets in a rally, and I know that’s a leap, this is gonna be… I don’t even like saying things right now. Like, I’m so not confident.
“FAA has a shot at being in the final here.”
Meanwhile, in the other half, Roddick had backed Alexander Zverev to not only make it through to the final, but to win the whole thing.
He admitted: “I’m sure from the sounds of it, you can tell that we’re just fully confident in our picks right now.
“Imagine if you would have told Zverev two weeks ago that there is a lot of dumb shows after the first week saying, yeah, the most likely opponent that you have in the final is Cobolli or FAA.”
This prompted journalist Jon Wertheim to add: “I mean, to Zverev’s credit, I mean, look, we all know this is a huge opportunity for him. He’s number one with the odds makers. He’s the one; we’ve talked about this.
“I mean, the one thing you have to say about him is that he’s very realistic about sort of what’s going on with his career. He knows exactly.
“He’s also played really well. I mean, every time you catch a peek, he’s drilling the backhand, he’s moving well. I mean, to his credit, he’s also totally taking care of business in week one.”
Alexander Zverev’s impressive record at Roland Garros and on clay
The reason why Zverev is so fancied now in Sinner’s absence is not just because of his consistent quality on the biggest stages over the last decade, but also because of his penchant for success on this particular surface.
After all, he has made no secret about how much he enjoys playing at Roland Garros, as a former finalist who was within just one set of the title during that match.
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Alexander Zverev is the favourite…
The German is also a three-time semi-finalist here as well, as if to reinforce his consistent quality in the French capital.
However, it’s also worth mentioning how successful he has been at other clay-court events as well.
Four of his seven Masters 1000 titles came on this surface.
The statistics back up Zverev’s penchant for the clay as well, with a win rate of 70.78%, his highest of any surface.
