2023 French Open Men’s Singles: Alcaraz, Djokovic, Medvedev Favorites to Win

• Rafael Nadal won’t be able to defend his French Open title after suffering a hip injury
• Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were placed on the same half of the Roland Garros draw
• Daniil Medvedev emerged as a title contender after winning the Rome Masters

The second Grand Slam event of the year is upon us.

That’s the 2023 French Open, which will kick off this Sunday.

The men’s draw is wide open, with 14-time champion Rafael Nadal out because of a hip injury.

Sports Brief looks at the favorites to lift La Coupe des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros.

Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz is the man to beat at the 2023 French Open, and there are plenty of good reasons why.

First, the world No. 1 loves playing on the red dirt. This year, he won two clay tournaments, capturing the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Masters.

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Second, Alcaraz already has experience winning a Grand Slam, with the Spaniard bagging the US Open crown last year.

He knows what it takes to win seven best-of-five matches in a tournament. That experience will serve him well in the next couple of weeks.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic’s preparation for this year’s French Open hasn’t been ideal, with the 22-time Grand Slam champion missing several clay court events because of an elbow injury.

He played at the Rome Masters to defend his title but was defeated by Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.

Like Alcaraz, Djokovic has already won titles this season. The Serbian star made noise early this year with another win at the Australian Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.

Djokovic is looking to add to the two French Open titles he won in 2016 and 2021. He can move past Nadal in the Grand Slam race with his arch-rival sidelined, per Yahoo! Sports.

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That added motivation will make Djokovic a tough out in this year’s French Open.

Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev will head to this year’s French Open with momentum on his side after winning the Rome Masters last week.

He was in fine form in that tournament, dropping just one set in six matches to capture his first-ever clay-court title, per ESPN.

Medvedev’s run to the championship wasn’t easy, as he had to beat Alexander Zverev (round of 16), Stefanos Tsitsipas (semis), and Holger Rune (final).

That title helped Medvedev’s French Open chances as he climbed to second in the ATP world rankings following that win.

Medvedev benefited from that rise as he was placed in the bottom half of the draw, opposite Alcaraz and Djokovic.

With the way he is playing on clay right now, it wouldn’t surprise us to see Medvedev win his maiden French Open title.

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Alcaraz, Nadal to play doubles?

Sports Brief recently reported on Alcaraz wanting to play doubles with Nadal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Nadal has won two Olympic gold medals in his career.

He captured the singles title in Beijing in 2008 and the doubles title in Rio in 2016.