The French Open is the only one of the four Grand Slams to be played on clay and is, therefore, a specialist tournament which tends to be dominated by a small pool of players.
Although having been staged since 1891, it took until 1968 for the tournament to become an Open and that was when professional players were first introduced to the competition.
There have been many multiple male winners in the French capital down the years with Bjorn Borg winning the event six times between 1974 and 1981, although his achievements have since been overshadowed by the superiority of 14-time champion Rafael Nadal.
Nadal's dominance meant there were only four different winners of the French Open for nearly two decades from 2004 with the Spaniard last lifting the trophy in 2022.
His Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz has now started to dominate - winning back-to-back titles on the red clay in Paris.
Year | Champion | Runner-up |
---|---|---|
1968 | Ken Rosewall | Rod Laver |
1969 | Rod Laver | Ken Rosewall |
1970 | Jan Kodeš | Željko Franulović |
1971 | Jan Kodeš | Ilie Năstase |
1972 | Andrés Gimeno | Patrick Proisy |
1973 | Ilie Năstase | Nikola Pilić |
1974 | Björn Borg | Manuel Orantes |
1975 | Björn Borg | Guillermo Vilas |
1976 | Adriano Panatta | Harold Solomon |
1977 | Guillermo Vilas | Brian Gottfried |
1978 | Björn Borg | Guillermo Vilas |
1979 | Björn Borg | Víctor Pecci |
1980 | Björn Borg | Vitas Gerulaitis |
1981 | Björn Borg | Ivan Lendl |
1982 | Mats Wilander | Guillermo Vilas |
1983 | Yannick Noah | Mats Wilander |
1984 | Ivan Lendl | John McEnroe |
1985 | Mats Wilander | Ivan Lendl |
1986 | Ivan Lendl | Mikael Pernfors |
1987 | Ivan Lendl | Mats Wilander |
1988 | Mats Wilander | Henri Leconte |
1989 | Michael Chang | Stefan Edberg |
1990 | Andrés Gómez | Andre Agassi |
1991 | Jim Courier | Andre Agassi |
1992 | Jim Courier | Petr Korda |
1993 | Sergi Bruguera | Jim Courier |
1994 | Sergi Bruguera | Alberto Berasategui |
1995 | Thomas Muster | Michael Chang |
1996 | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | Michael Stich |
1997 | Gustavo Kuerten | Sergi Bruguera |
1998 | Carlos Moyá | Àlex Corretja |
1999 | Andre Agassi | Andrei Medvedev |
2000 | Gustavo Kuerten | Magnus Norman |
2001 | Gustavo Kuerten | Àlex Corretja |
2002 | Albert Costa | Juan Carlos Ferrero |
2003 | Juan Carlos Ferrero | Martin Verkerk |
2004 | Gastón Gaudio | Guillermo Coria |
2005 | Rafael Nadal | Mariano Puerta |
2006 | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer |
2007 | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer |
2008 | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer |
2009 | Roger Federer | Robin Söderling |
2010 | Rafael Nadal | Robin Söderling |
2011 | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer |
2012 | Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |
2013 | Rafael Nadal | David Ferrer |
2014 | Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |
2015 | Stan Wawrinka | Novak Djokovic |
2016 | Novak Djokovic | Andy Murray |
2017 | Rafael Nadal | Stan Wawrinka |
2018 | Rafael Nadal | Dominic Thiem |
2019 | Rafael Nadal | Dominic Thiem |
2020 | Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |
2021 | Novak Djokovic | Stefanos Tsitsipas |
2022 | Rafael Nadal | Casper Ruud |
2023 | Novak Djokovic | Casper Ruud |
2024 | Carlos Alcaraz | Alexander Zverev |
2025 | Carlos Alcaraz | Jannik Sinner |
The 2025 French Open saw Alcaraz claim the title in one of the most dramatic Grand Slam matches of the Open Era.
Tennis fans were treated to the latest instalment of the Alcaraz v Sinner rivalry and the showpiece certainly delivered.
Defending champion Alcaraz recovered from two sets down and saved three championship points to somehow claim victory after five hours and 29 minutes - the longest final in French Open history.
Rafael Nadal is widely considered the King of Clay and he is generally regarded as the best player to ever grace the surface, claiming an unprecedented 14 French Open titles at Roland Garros.
The Spaniard grew up playing on the red dirt as a youngster and carved out a style of play that allowed him to dominate on the slower terrain.
Nadal first rose to prominence in Paris in 2005 when he defeated Mariano Puerta to take his first French Open title as a 19-year-old.
The Mallorcan went on to win eight of the next nine French Open titles, only failing to oblige in 2009 when exiting in the fourth round, and it was Roger Federer that capitalised to win his only ever title in Paris.
Nadal failed to go beyond the quarter-finals in both 2015 and 2016, but he quickly recovered to take four more titles between 2017 and 2020.
The Spaniard looked on course for more French success in 2021 but suffered a surprise four-set defeat to Djokovic in the semi-final.
However, you couldn't keep Nadal down for long, particularly in Paris, and he regained his crown the following year, beating Casper Ruud in the 2022 final to lift his 14th and final trophy at Roland Garros.