If you’re a casual men’s tennis fan, there’s a decent chance you can’t name any of the players still in contention as the French Open hits its second week.
Some of the sport’s biggest stars—including Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Ben Shelton—wilted in the searing heat during the first few rounds. Carlos Alcaraz missed the tournament entirely. This is the first Grand Slam since 1959 (!) that doesn’t have a prior major winner playing in the men’s fourth round.
What’s left is a hodgepodge of youngsters that could soon be stars and older players who have yet to win titles on the sport’s biggest stages. It has presented Roland Garros and men’s tennis—plus the sport’s biggest broadcasters, sponsors and partners—with an unprecedented opportunity to gauge the popularity and health of the sport overall, when it’s not carried by its most enduring spokesmen.
To be clear, this is not an opportunity that French Open organizers want to have. All sports rely on their stars, but among individual sports, men’s tennis has always had an advantage over its peers. While it’s not uncommon for golf majors to reach Sunday with a leaderboard devoid of top-tier stars, that’s historically been unheard of in modern men’s tennis. It’s been more than 20 years since fans had a fourth round at a men’s Grand Slam that didn’t feature Sinner, Alcaraz, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer. In fact, in that 87-Slam span, there have only been two Slams that didn’t feature one or more of them in the semifinals. The five players ultimately won 77 of those tournaments.
