Nadal's legacy looms as Alcaraz and Sinner look set to lock horns at Roland-Garros

Rafael Nadal will watch the French Open this year as world No 1 Jannik Sinner and No 2 Carlos Alcaraz appear to be on a collision course for the men's final

- By Craig Ray

In the past 20 years only five men have won the singles title at Roland-Garros in the era of Rafael Nadal's dominance on the clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier.

There has never been a better moment than this year presents for a new name to be engraved on the Coupe des Mousquetaires as men's tennis continues its transition in the post-Big Three world.

In the 20 editions played since Nadal won the first of his 14 titles at Roland-Garros in 2005, only Novak Djokovic has won the men's singles more than once. He has an impressive three titles. There was a time when winning three editions of any one of tennis's Grand Slams was considered spectacular.

Roger Federer (2009), Stan Wawrinka (2015) and Carlos Alcaraz (2024) are the only other players to have won the title in the last 20 years.

The way in which Nadal, Djokovic and Federer collected tennis's biggest titles in never-before-seen numbers unfairly changed the definition of success.

Federer won his only French Open in 2009, when an out-of-sorts Nadal lost in the fourth round to Sweden's Robin Söderling, opening the draw for the rest of the field. For Federer, that victory completed the career Grand Slam. Yet, because of the ridiculously high standards he and his fellow players in the Big Three set, it elevated expectations and changed definitions of success. Compared with Federer's other exploits, his lone Roland-Garros title appears mediocre. It's not. Federer just happened to overlap with the greatest clay court player of any generation, who not only had the technique to dominate on the sport's slowest surface, but also had the relentless drive to keep coming back for more.