The red clay courts of Roland Garros know that not all is how it should be. For the King of Clay is no longer the undisputed ruler. Having won 14 of his 22 grand slam titles at the French Open, Rafael Nadal is no longer considered to be the favourite.

That in itself is the biggest talking point going into the second grand slam of the year, which starts on Sunday.

Last year there was no Nadal. In fact, the Mallorcan has not played a single grand slam match since January 2023, when he lost in the second round of the Australian Open to Mackenzie McDonald.

Mackenzie who? One may ask.

The 76th-ranked Australian can take the credit for signalling the slide of Nadal’s ranking. From being the world No.1 then to an unbelievable 276 now, Nadal has just been wading through injuries.

The era of the Big Three is waning. Roger Federer has hung up his racket and Nadal is most likely to make this his farewell year.

So it is left to the resilient Novak Djokovic to bear that cross. And no wonder Nadal feels he needs to at least have a swansong at the venue that he has made his own.

So, even though not fully fit, he has decided to make an appearance in Paris, to earn a final hurrah at the place where his legend will live for decades.

At 37, and with 22 grand slam titles under his belt, he really has nothing more to prove. But the King of Clay wants to be part of that red earth once again.

Serb not an ace

Going by rankings alone, Djokovic will again lead the seedings followed by Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev for the top five slots.

Djokovic celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday (May 22) at the Geneva Open, becoming just the third player in the Open Era to win 1,100 tour-level matches — behind only Jimmy Connors (1,274) and Roger Federer (1,251) — defeating Yannick Hanfmann in the pre-quarters.

For defending champion Djokovic, 2023 had been one of his best years winning three of the four major titles. In contrast, he is still searching for his first title of 2024. He skipped Madrid and lost in the third round of the Italian Open to Alejandro Tabilo and thus remains very short on matches going into the French Open.

It is not often that Djokovic goes into a grand slam not being an overwhelming favourite to win. But that seems to be the case in this French Open, even though he is ranked No.1.

Advantage Swiatek

For the first time in decades, the men’s competition has opened up with a number of hands being raised as the possible winner.

This normally is the case in the women’s side ever since Serena Williams’ iron grip on the sport faded away. But this time, it seems one can put the money on Iga Swiatek.

The Polish world No. 1 is looking for her fourth French Open title — the third on the trot. Having won three of her four grand slam titles on the red clay, she definitely seems to have the advantage over her peers.

Her current form on clay too is formidable, having completed the “dirt double” by winning the Madrid Open and Italian Open back-to-back.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who lost both finals to Swiatek, will however seek redemption. There are also the likes of Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina in the fray.

India connect

India will have Sumit Nagal in the main draw of singles. Nagal secured his place thanks to his career-high world ranking of 80. He is the first Indian male player to qualify for the French Open main draw since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019.

But in the men’s doubles, Rohan Bopanna, ranked fourth in the world, and his world No. 3 partner Matthew Ebden of Australia will be among the title favourites. They are the reigning Australian Open champions. Yuki Bhambri (partnering Albano Olivetti of France) and Nagal (with Sebastian Ofner of Austria) will also feature.