Welcome to ESPN's new tennis contest for the French Open: Tennis Major Pick'em: Paris!
What is it? It's a brand-new, free-to-play game, where you take a few minutes to answer a series of questions related to the upcoming French Open tennis Grand Slam event, which starts on Monday, September 28, and ends Sunday, October 12. You can play against your friends, family and coworkers, while also trying to climb the overall leaderboard for a chance to win $1,000.
Listed below are the 14 questions you'll need to answer in order to participate, and ESPN researcher Kyle Soppe and I teamed up to supply you some nuggets of info to help guide you through your decision-making process.
Good luck!
Who will win the Men's Singles Championship?
Any other player
The last nine Grand Slam tournaments have all been won by Djokovic, Nadal or Thiem. Nadal and Djokovic have won the past four French Opens and nine of the past 10. This group of three has also comprised 12 of the past 16 French Open finalists, and the other four finalists are made up of one retired player (David Ferrer), one who has fallen completely out of the rankings due to injury (Andy Murray), and the other is 35-year old Stanislas Wawrinka. These three also represent the defending champion at all four Grand Slams.
Thiem just won the US Open, the only Grand Slam since the season resumed, and has made the final of the past two French Opens. Djokovic is undefeated in 2020 (outside of a disqualification at the US Open), has won five of the past seven Grand Slams and is the last person besides Nadal to win the French Open. Nadal has a career 93-2 record at Roland Garros and has 12 titles, including the last three.
Who will win the Women's Singles Championship?
Any other player
The past 14 Grand Slams have been won by 11 different women, with only Halep (two) and Naomi Osaka (three) winning multiple championships during that span. Osaka is sitting out this French Open with a hamstring injury, and defending champion and world number one Ashleigh Barty is sitting out due to COVID-19 concerns.
Halep won the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon, as well as the recent Rome championship on clay. She is the No. 1 seed but has a tough draw that includes Serena Williams, US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka, Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens in her half. Her past three French Opens have included a win, a finals appearance and a quarterfinals appearance.
Williams is seeking a record-tying 24th women's Grand Slam singles titles but hasn't won a slam since before taking maternity leave in 2017, nor a French Open since 2015. She has made the final in four of the nine Grand Slams since her return and was a semi-finalist at the recently completed US Open, but she has not made it past the fourth round of the French in her two post-leave appearances.
Muguruza won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017, but she has made it past the fourth round in only one of her past eight Grand Slams (Finals, 2020 Australian Open). Her past four French Open appearances included her win, a semifinals appearance and two fourth round finishes.
Who will record more breaks of serve in the first round?
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
In 2017, both Djokovic and Nadal broke their first round opponents in the French Open eight times each. In 2018, Djokovic broke his opponent six times while Nadal broke his four times. In 2019, both broke their opponents six times each. During the past 52 weeks, on clay, Nadal has the highest return rating on tour at 190.8, having won 44.6 percent of return games and converted 48.1 percent of break points. Djokovic ranks third with a return rating of 171.5, having won 33.9 percent of return games and converted 47.9 percent of break points.
How many men's and women's singles top-10 seeds will lose in the first round?
0-2
3-4
5-6
7 or more
During the past 10 Grand Slams, there have been 24 top-10 seeds to lose in the first round, 12 among men and 12 among women. Those numbers come primarily from Wimbledon and the US Open, since they represent five of the past 10 Grand Slams, and 17 of the 24 occurrences of top-10 seeds losing in the first round. The French Open has been more stable, with zero men and three women top-10 seeds falling total during the past two tournaments.
Will either No. 1 seed in the Men's or Women's Singles lose before the quarterfinals?
Yes
No
During the past 10 Grand Slams, nine total top seeds have lost before the quarterfinals. It has happened twice among men, both times with Djokovic at the US Open, including his disqualification in the fourth round this year. It has happened seven times among women, including at the 2019 French Open.
Djokovic and Halep are the top seeds this year. Djokovic has made at least the quarterfinals in 10 straight French Opens and 13 of the past 14. Halep has made at least the quarterfinals in three straight French Opens and four of the past six.
Which of these countries will have the most quarterfinalists in singles?
Spain
Russia
Serbia
United States
Spain has four top-32 players in this year's French Open, including Nadal, Bautista, Pablo Carreno Busta and Muguruza.
Russia has five top-32 players, including Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov among men and Ekaterina Alexandrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova among women.
Serbia has three top-32 players, all men, including Djokovic, Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic.
The United States has nine top-32 players, including Jon Isner and Taylor Fitz among the men and Serena Williams, Sofia Kenin, Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Jennifer Brady, Amanda Anisimova and Sloane Stephens among the women.
What will be Denis Shapovalov's tournament result?
Champion or finalist
Semifinalist or quarterfinalist
Round of 16
Any other result
Shapalov's best finish at the French Open was a second-round loss in 2018, and he followed that by losing in the first round in 2019. He made the quarterfinals at the recently concluded US Open, but that was only the second time he'd made it past the first round in his past five Grand Slam appearances. His best surface is hardcourt, but he has gone 16-13 on clay in his career. He did make the semifinals of the Italian Open on clay, which concluded last week, and is thus 4-1 on clay this season.
What will be Karolina Pliskova's tournament result?
Champion or Finalist
Semifinalist or Quarterfinalist
Round of 16
Any other result
Pliskova has made it past the third round of the French Open only once in her career, a semifinal appearance in 2017, and has made the third round in each of her past two appearances at Roland Garros. She made only the second round of the 2020 US Open, but made the Finals of last week's Italian Open on clay after winning the event in 2019.
Which of these players will advance the furthest?
Tsisipas made the fourth round of the 2019 French Open, his best finish in three appearances. This came on the heels of his making the semifinals of the 2019 Australian Open, his best finish in any Grand Slam. This season, he made the third round in both the Australian Open and the recently concluded US Open. He made only the second round of the Italian Open, the clay court tournament immediately preceding the French Open.
Vondrousova was a finalist in the 2019 French Open, but that was only the second time she has made it past the second round in her 12 Grand Slam appearances. This year, she lost in the first round at the Australian Open and the second round at the US Open. She did bounce back to make the semifinals of the Italian Open, indicating that she is playing well on clay entering Roland-Garros.
Schwartzman made the second round of the 2019 French Open, but he made the quarterfinals in 2018 to tie for his best finish at any major. Schwartzman made the fourth round of the 2020 Australian Open but lost in the first round of the US Open. Two of his three career titles came on clay, and he made the finals of the Italian Open on clay in a tournament in which he defeated King of Clay Rafael Nadal.
Mertens has made the third round twice and the fourth round once in her three French Open appearances, and she has made either the fourth round or quarterfinals in each of her last four Grand Slam appearances overall. She made the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open on hardcourt and the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on clay, in addition to a quarterfinal appearance at the US Open since the tour resumed.
Which of these players will advance the furthest?
Kiki Bertens
Elina Svitolina
Daniil Medvedev
Bertens was a semifinalist at the 2016 French Open but has not made it past the third round since, and he went out in the second round in 2019. She made the fourth round of the 2020 Australian Open, but missed the US Open due to COVID-19 concerns. She returned for the Italian Open but made only the second round. She has twice been a semifinalist at that event, though, indicating an aptitude for clay tournaments.
Zverev has long been considered one of the best of the next gen, and this season has been a breakout one with career-best Grand Slam finishes of the semifinals at the Australian Open and the final at the US Open. His marathon five-set match at the US Open prompted him to skip the Italian Open this year. Zverev has made the quarterfinals of each of the past two French Opens.
Svitolina has made the third round of the two most recent French Opens, but she made the quarterfinals in two of her three previous appearances at Roland-Garros. She has made at least the quarterfinals in three of her past five Grand Slam appearances overall, including two semifinals finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019. She skipped this year's US Open due to coronavirus concerns, but did return with a quarterfinals finish at the Italian Open.
Medvedev has struggled at big events on clay. He has never made it past the first round in any of his three French Open, his two Italian Open or his two Madrid Open appearances. He has played well since the tour resumed, making the semifinals at the US Open after making the quarters of the Cincinnati Masters, but both of those events were on hardcourts.
How many 6-0 sets will there be in the Men's and Women's Singles?
0-15
16-30
31-44
45 or more
There were 35 total 6-0 sets at the 2019 French Open, 19 among men and 16 among women. There were 28 total at the 2018 French Open (10 men, 18 women) and 37 total at the 2017 French Open (22 men, 15 women).
Will an unseeded player reach the Men's or Women's Singles Final?
Yes
No
The last unseeded man to make the French Open Final was Gaston Gaudio, in 2004. Since then, 29 of the 30 finalists have been named Nadal, Djokovic, Federer (injured), Murray, Wawrinka, Ferrer (retired) or Robin Soderling (retired). Murray is unseeded for this tournament as he tries to work himself back from a potentially career-ending injury.
The last unseeded woman to make the French Open final was 20-year old Jelena Ostapenko, who won the event, in 2017. Sloane Stephens also won the 2017 US Open as an unseeded player, as her ranking had slid due to injury.
Will there be a first-time major singles champion?
Yes
No
The last man to win his first major singles championship at the French Open was Nadal, in 2005. He has won 12 of the past 14 French Opens, with the other two winners being 17-time major champion Djokovic and 20-time major champion Federer. Thiem came close to breaking through with Final appearances in 2018 and 2019, but he has since won the 2020 US Open so would not be a first-time major winner should he triumph this season. Since 2018, Zverev (US Open) and Medvedev (US Open) are the only two men to make a Grand Slam final that haven't won a major.
Each of the last four women to win the French Open were first-time champions, including Barty (2019), Halep (2018), Ostapenko (2017) and Muguruza (2016). Overall, 11 of the last 19 women's majors have been won by first-time champions.
How many total games will be played in the Men's and Women's Singles Championship matches?
During the last 10 years, the Men's Championship has averaged 33.5 total games while the Women's Championship has averaged 23.9 for a total of 57.4 total games overall. The fewest total games during that stretch was 46 in 2013, a year when both Nadal and Serena Williams were dominant in the Finals. The most total games during that stretch was 72 in 2014, a year in which Nadal and Djokovic played a highly contested Final and Maria Sharapova defeated Halep in a three-set classic.