Djokovic, Sinner, Alcaraz shrug off French Open doubts

Top seeds Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have all allayed pre-tournament doubts, winning their first-round matches at the 2024 French Open comprehensively.

Djokovic showed the kind of competitive spirit that has been lacking in recent months in his victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. While the scoreline — 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4 — was far from impressive, it was still a straight-sets victory.

The Serbian had promising words afterwards as well, labelling it his most enjoyable match of the year.

Sinner showed no sign of the hip injury that just weeks ago was forecast to keep him out of the tournament entirely. The Italian motored past American Chris Eubanks in straight sets, prevailing 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 while hitting 33 winners and saving nine of 10 break points.

Alcaraz was the most impressive of the three. Weeks ago he’d been virtually unable to hit his signature shot — the booming, topspin-heavy forehand.

Against lucky loser JJ Wolf, he was in full flow. The Spaniard dropped just four games in his 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 victory, with 21 winners coming from the forehand side.

Top seeds answer questions in Paris

Ahead of the tournament’s start, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner all had significant question marks over their heads.

For Djokovic, it was his uncharacteristic poor form — no titles yet this season and lacklustre losses to the likes of Tomas Machac and Alejandro Tabilo.

For Alcaraz and Sinner, injuries were the concern. Both had been unable to compete in Rome, with Alcaraz suffering a muscle tear in his forearm and Sinner dealing with a hip injury.

With this trio holding the three top seedings at Roland-Garros, their issues had the draw in Paris looking wide-open. But after just three days, that door is beginning to look decidedly more shut for the rest of the field.

Despite these impressive performances, bookmakers have only marginally tweaked their outright betting odds for the 2024 French Open. Alcaraz remains favourite (+225), Djokovic second (+333), and Sinner has made up some ground in third (+375).

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