French Open previous men's winners

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 means there have been only four different winners of the French Open since 2004 with the Spaniard last lifting the trophy in 2022.

His Spanish compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, the game's rising star, and defending three-time champion Novak Djokovic are just two players that may have something to say about that in years to come.

Nadal's unprecedented dominance in Paris

For a long time, Nadal has been considered the King of Clay as he is widely regarded as the best player to ever grace the surface. 

The Spaniard grew up playing on the red dirt as a youngster and has carved out a style of play that has 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-final in 2015 and 2016 - he withdrew injured before his third-round clash with Marcel Granollers in 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 can't keep Nadal down for long, particularly in Paris, and he regained his crown the following year, beating Casper Ruud in the 2022 final. 

24 time Grand Slam champion Djokovic is the defending champion in Paris, the Serbian juggernaut clinched his third French Open title last year beating the unfortunate Ruud in the final, the second time in two year the Norwegian has finished as runner-up.

Carlos Alcaraz is the favourite to claim his first trophy at Roland Garros this year, the 20-year-old already has two Grand Slam titles to his name and reached the semi-final stage in Paris last year.

The imperious Djokovic still remains a serious threat however, with the 36-year-old defending champion second favourite for the title in Paris.

French Open winners (Open Era)

bet365 News Team

• Rafael Nadal
• Novak Djokovic
• Carlos Alcaraz
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