The first professional tennis tournament was held in 1891 at I’lle de Puteaux in France. Since 1928, it has been known as Roland Garros, named in honor of the French aviator who in 1913 became the first man to fly non-stop across the Mediterranean Sea. Known in English as the French Open, it is one of four Grand Slam events on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Past French Open champions include Tony Trabert, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, and Jim Courier.
Since 2005, only four players have won the French Open. That’s in large part due to the dominance of Rafael Nadal, who, appropriately nicknamed the “King of Clay” for his success on the clay court surface, has won a record 14 titles at Roland Garros. Novak Djokovic, a three-time French Open champion, won in 2023, but Nadal was absent due to injury. Here is a closer look at the dominance of Nadal and Djokovic and the only other two French Open winners in the last 18 years.
Novak Djokovic
Part of the “Big Three” of men’s tennis, along with Nadal and Roger Federer, Djokovic won a record-breaking 23rd career Grand Slam title with his victory at Roland Garros in 2023. Djokovic defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 in the final to win the French Open for the third time and second time in three years. At 36 years and 20 days, he is the oldest singles champion in Roland Garros history.
Djokovic struggled with injuries and poor form in the lead-up to the 2023 French Open, but, as he has done in the past, was able to find rise to the challenge in another Grand Slam tournament. He has won each of the last three Grand Slams in which he participated. He dropped only two sets en route to winning the 2023 French Open.
Djokovic overcame a two-set deficit to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the 2021 French Open and defeated Andy Murray in four sets to win the 2016 French Open. He has won the Australian Open 10 times, Wimbledon seven times, and the US Open three times.
Rafael Nadal
One year prior to Djokovic becoming the oldest French Open singles champion, Nadal earned that distinction when he won his record-extending 14th title at Roland Garros with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Ruud in the final. Nadal, then 36 years and two days old, battled through a stress fracture in his ribs and required a nerve injection in his left foot to compete in the final. Despite that, he put in a dominant performance, losing just six games against Ruud. It was his sixth Grand Slam final victory in which he lost fewer than 10 games.
Nadal won his 14 French Open titles from 2005 to 2022, during which time he beat Federer and Djokovic in the final a combined seven times. Following the 2022 French Open, he had a career record of 112-3 in 18 appearances at Roland Garros. He lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and to Djokovic in the quarter-finals in 2015 and the semi-finals in 2021. He had also only lost 34 of 367 sets. Moreover, only three players—John Isner, Djokovic, and Felix Auger-Aliassime—have taken him to five sets in the French Open.
Nadal withdrew from the 2023 French Open due to a hip injury. He’s also a four-time US Open champion with a pair of victories at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Nadal plans to retire following the 2024 season.
Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka is the only other player outside of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer to win the French Open since 2005. The talented Swiss player, as the No. 8 seed, was the unlikely winner of the 2015 French Open, defeating Djokovic 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4 in the final. Wawrinka, who lost in the first round of the 2014 French Open and had won just three of his prior 20 matches against Djokovic, beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals and fellow Swiss Federer in the quarterfinals.
Wawrinka, now 38, has won 16 career ATP Tour titles, including three Grand Slams. He won the 2014 Australian Open and 2016 US Open.
Roger Federer
One of only eight men to win each of the four Grand Slams (French Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), Federer won at Roland Garros for the first and only time in 2009, defeating Soderling in the final 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-4. Federer is an eight-time Wimbledon champion and has won the US Open and Australian Open five and six times, respectively. The No. 2 seed in the tournament, he also recorded victories over Juan Martin del Potro, Gael Monfils, and Thomas Haas.
Federer’s triumph in 2009 came after three consecutive losses in the French Open final to Nadal. He lost to Nadal again in the final of the 2011 French Open. Federer retired in 2022 after playing a doubles match with Nadal in the Laver Cup.