French Open storylines: Alcaraz's title defense and more

The French Open is no longer a foregone conclusion.

Rafael Nadal's retirement opened things up on the men's side, while Iga Swiatek looks far from the player who earned the "Queen of Clay" nickname.

Here are five storylines to watch when the action begins Sunday in Paris.

Sinner hasn't missed a beat

It hardly looks like Jannik Sinner missed the last three months of action. The World No. 1 was sharp in his return from a doping ban this past week, dropping just one set before falling 7-6 (5), 6-1 to Carlos Alcaraz in the Italian Open final. It was a tough way for Sinner to conclude his home tournament, but the three-time major winner can take solace in his overall body of work.

Sinner secured a dominant 6-0, 6-1 quarterfinal victory over No. 6 seed Casper Ruud, winning 55-of-76 points and breaking the clay-court specialist's serve six times. Ruud entered the matchup riding a nine-match winning streak that included his first Masters 1000 crown in Madrid. But it was Sinner who seemed more like the in-form player, using his trademark consistency and power from the baseline to wear down the Norwegian.

"It was like playing a wall that shoots hundred-mile-an-hour balls at you all the time," Ruud told reporters post-match.

Alcaraz in top form

Alcaraz is flying high ahead of his first French Open title defense. No player on the ATP Tour had a better clay-court swing - the Spanish phenom won Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte-Carlo and Rome to go along with a finals appearance at the Barcelona Open. Alcaraz joins Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten, and Marcelo Rios as the only men to capture all three Masters 1000 clay-court events.

Alcaraz's triumph over Sinner in Rome was his fourth straight victory in their rivalry, which includes a thrilling five-set comeback win in last year's French Open semifinal. Alcaraz also snapped Sinner's 26-match winning streak and ended the Italian's scorching stretch of 24 consecutive sets won against top-10 opponents.

Alcaraz rose to the occasion in the biggest moments, saving a pair of break points to keep himself in the opening set and then firing back-to-back aces en route to taking the first-set tiebreaker. The World No. 2's shot selection was masterful too; he picked the right times to charge the net or mix in a drop shot. Alcaraz is difficult to defeat on clay when he can combine his shot variation with his superb court coverage.

Trophyless Swiatek

Swiatek has been nearly unbeatable at Roland Garros, compiling a 35-2 career record and winning four of the last five tournaments. She's made the second week of the French Open in each of her six appearances. Swiatek's earliest exit came six years ago in the fourth round when she was making her main-draw debut. The Polish star's 81 wins on clay since 2021 are 19 clear of her closest competitor on the women's circuit. However, some serious questions surround her as she pursues her fourth straight title in Paris.

Swiatek hasn't made a tournament final since winning last year's French Open. The 23-year-old's trophyless run dropped her to No. 5 in the WTA rankings and made her path to another title at Roland Garros a whole lot tougher. Swiatek could face Elena Rybakina or Jelena Ostapenko in the Round of 16. Both players have fared well against Swiatek, especially Ostapenko, who's a perfect 6-0 in their head-to-head matchup. The road to the championship match won't get any easier with Jasmine Paolini, Aryna Sabalenka, and Coco Gauff potentially awaiting in succession. Paolini and Sabalenka each enjoyed strong clay-court campaigns and Gauff won her last three meetings against Swiatek, including a 6-1, 6-1 rout in Madrid just three weeks ago.

Swiatek also split with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski last October after a successful three-year run. Her new partnership with Wim Fissette has yet to pay major dividends despite the latter's strong track record with multiple World No. 1s.

Djokovic's decline?

Is this the start of Djokovic's decline? The Serbian superstar failed to win a major last season, marking the first time in seven years that he didn't add a Grand Slam trophy to his cabinet. He's 14-7 in limited action this year, including a pair of three-match losing streaks. Djokovic was one-and-done at the marquee clay-court stops in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. He subsequently ended his coaching partnership with Andy Murray a few weeks after his defeat in the Spanish capital.

"We agreed that we should part ways as coach and player," Djokovic said at his press conference before the Geneva Open, per Sky Sports News. "We felt like we couldn't get more out of that partnership on the court. ... We didn't reach what we both hoped that we can reach in a relationship in terms of results and that's all there is to it."

Djokovic's current team features Serbian Billie Jean King Cup captain Dusan Vemic and former ATP player Boris Bosnjakovic. Both were in Djokovic's corner this week at the ATP 250 event in Geneva as the 24-time major champ accepted a main-draw wild card. It's not often that Djokovic competes in a tuneup event the week before a major, but he's evidently trying to create some momentum heading into Roland Garros.

Don't sleep on Paolini

Paolini continues to prove that her breakout 2024 campaign was no fluke. The 29-year-old cemented herself as one of the French Open favorites, needing just 89 minutes to dispatch Gauff 6-4, 6-2 in the Italian Open final. Paolini is the first Italian woman to win the nation's biggest tournament since Raffaella Reggi in 1985. It was also Paolini's second straight victory over Gauff in as many months.

Paolini's had a strong buildup to the season's second major. She took home the Italian Open doubles title alongside countrywoman Sara Errani and reached the semifinals of April's Stuttgart Open, where she fell to Sabalenka.

Paolini should have plenty of confidence heading into Paris, especially after last year's run to the final. Her elite movement is a huge asset on the clay surface, and she's got the ability to crank up the power on her groundstrokes when needed.