We now know the final eight in the men’s draw and the women’s draw for the second major of the year–the 2026 French Open from Roland Garros. We are guaranteed a new men’s singles champion at the French Open as none of the eight players left in the men’s singles draw has won a major before.
One of the most intriguing quarterfinal matchups on the men’s side has world number two Alexander Zverev of Germany playing rising Spanish star and 27th seed Rafael Jodar of Spain. Jodar has had a solid clay court season at only 19 years of age. He reached the semifinals of the Barcelona Open, and the quarterfinals of the Italian Open and Madrid. Zverev has reached three grand slam finals but has not got into the winner’s circle.
Meanwhile, Joao Fonseca of Brazil, the 28th seed who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the third round, will next face Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, the 26th seed. Mensik is only 20 years of age, and Fonseca is only 19 years old. Then on Thursday, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the fourth seed, will play the 10th seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy. Meanwhile, in an all-Italian matchup, Matteo Arnaldi will face Matteo Berrettini. Arnaldi beat American Frances Tiafoe 7-6, 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a dramatic five set fourth round thriller on Suzanne Lenglen Court on Monday. It is amazing there are three Italian men left in the singles draw and world number one Jannik Sinner is not one of them.
Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is the only player left in the draw who is a major champion from the past. She has won the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open, as well as the 2024 and 2025 United States Open, but has never won a grand slam event on a surface other than hard court. In the fourth round, Sabalebnka beat Japanese star Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3, and the world number one will next play the 25th seed Diana Shnaider of Russia. The other three women’s quarterfinals matches have Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, the 22nd seed facing Maja Chwalinska of Poland, the eighth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia facing the 18th seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, and the seventh seed Elina Svitolina facing the 15th seed Marta Kostyuk in an all-Ukrainian matchup.
