The expectation across the entire tennis world is that this year’s Roland Garros is now Jannik Sinner’s to lose.
After all, he and Carlos Alcaraz have been the dominant force on the ATP Tour over the last two years, and with the Spaniard set to be absent, an opportunity has emerged.
However, with Novak Djokovic having proven that the Italian is not immortal at Grand Slams, beating him earlier this year at the Australian Open, it also feels like opportunity beckons for the rest of the field too.
Pam Shriver has been discussing this very phenomenon on the Inside-In Podcast, reacting to the news that Alcaraz had withdrawn from the French Open.
The two players who can trouble Jannik Sinner at the French Open
Asked to name any potential challengers to Jannik Sinner’s bid for the Roland Garros title, the former Grand Slam finalist had two names.
“I think the comeback of Arthur Fils has been pretty fascinating,” she began. “Let’s see how he handles being the home favourite. It hasn’t been a great speciality of the French players the last few decades, playing their best tennis at Roland Garros.”
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Shriver then turned her attention to another American, saying: “I think Ben Shelton’s such an interesting player to me because of a lot of reasons.
“First off, I adore his dad. To have one of the great father-son coaching relationships of all time has been great to watch, but the weapons that Ben possesses with the serve, with his attitude, with his embracing of the big moments, you can see the way he loves playing in the majors and his performance has shown.
“So I think, also, I think he’s surprisingly good on clay, and he’s such a great athlete. So those are two players I would look to.”
The former player turned pundit insisted that their upbeat and infectious attitudes could carry them far, adding: “Yeah, and they seem to embrace the biggest matches, the biggest moments. They don’t turn inward and get shy, they get kind of, like, ‘Yes!’ I love it! And you can see it.”
Shelton did win a clay-court title in Munich just last month, but then suffered a shock early exit in Madrid.
Arthur Fils and Ben Shelton’s records against Jannik Sinner
Whilst Arthur Fils and Ben Shelton are widely regarded as two of the sport’s most prodigious young talents, their respective records against Sinner do not make for good reading.
In fact, combining them together reaps only a single win against the world number one.
Is Arthur Fils the next best player after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
The Frenchman actually faced Sinner earlier today, but was handily dispatched in straight sets in their Madrid Open semi-final showdown.
Shelton, meanwhile, has not beaten the 24-year-old since 2023.
Overall, Sinner has 11 wins and just one loss against these two combined.
