Andy Roddick names his dark horse for this year’s Roland Garros men’s title

Andy Roddick could barely hide his amusement when the topic of Roland Garros came up this week, especially considering how early it is in the season.

“I love answering questions about the French Open when we haven’t played a tournament on clay yet,” he said. “It’s my favourite.”

Still, despite his initial sarcasm, Roddick ended up giving a thoughtful response when asked about who he considered a potential dark horse for the next Grand Slam.

Alexander Zverev tipped as Roland Garros contender

On the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, he was asked who he thought could win Roland Garros if Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic weren’t in the mix.

Taking this to mean a dark horse pick, Roddick didn’t hesitate with his answer. He said: “Zverev. I mean, he’s been in the final. He’s won Masters Series on it.

“Like, you go back and you recreate his career and you take out those names you just said [Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic], and he’s looking at five or six slams. That’s not the way the world works. I wish it did, personally, but like, yeah, Zverev.”

Roddick also pointed out that removing those three names from consideration opens up the field considerably.

“But then you take those names out of it,” he said “and then all of a sudden you have ten people who are like… Fils catches a gear and they’re like ‘I don’t know why not?’”

Zverev finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2022 and was also a semi-finalist there in 2020 before losing to Daniil Medvedev.

If Alcaraz is unable to play due to injury concerns and Sinner continues managing his knee issues during what will be his first clay-court campaign since becoming World No 1 in June 2023, that could open up opportunities for others.

The German has already shown strong form this season by winning titles at Acapulco and Rotterdam.

How Alexander Zverev has fared at Roland Garros over the years

Last year marked Zverev’s tenth appearance in the Roland Garros main draw, though it didn’t go quite as planned as he suffered an earlier exit than he’s used to.

Before that, the German had reached at least the semi-finals in four consecutive years, including a runner-up finish in 2024.

In that final, he was two sets to one up on Carlos Alcaraz before being overpowered as the Spaniard rallied to win his first French Open title.

Zverev is still searching for his first Grand Slam title.

But clay might give him his best chance. Roddick highlighted how the surface can play to Zverev’s strengths and help cover some of his weaknesses.

The stats support that too. Zverev has a 79% win rate at Roland Garros, which is higher than any other Slam he’s played.

He’s also made more semi-finals there than anywhere else, and outside of his 2020 US Open final loss, Paris is where he’s come closest to winning a major.

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