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.
French Open men's winners (Open Era)
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 |
2026 | Alexander Zverev | Flavio Cobolli |
Who won the 2026 French Open
The 2026 French Open was won by Alexander Zverev who finally claimed his maiden Grand Slam title at the fourth time of asking, winning in five sets against Italy's Flavio Cobolli.
The German had reached the final at Roland Garros two years before in 2024, when he lost in five sets against Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev became the favourite to triumph at the French Open following the shock elimination of number one seed Jannik Sinner and the withdrawal of Alcaraz.
