For the first time in more than a decade, the world No 1 and world No 2 in both men’s and women’s tennis will face each other in a singles final at the same Grand Slam event.
WTA world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka was the first to book her place in the 2025 French Open final after she beat defending champion Iga Swiatek (currently fifth in the WTA Rankings) in three sets on Thursday.
The three-time major winner was joined in the showpiece match by world No 2 Coco Gauff after the American defeated wildcard Lois Boisson in straight sets.
The following day it was the turn of the men and ATP world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz kept his title defence alive as he advanced when Lorenzo Musetti retired early in the third set.
It was then left to world No 1 Jannik Sinner to complete the feat and he beat 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in straight sets to reach the final in Paris for the first time.
It means the world No 1s will face the world No 2s for the trophy in both the men’s and women’s finals at Roland Garros.
Before the 2025 French Open, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka were the last top-two rankings quartet to achieve the feat.
That achievement came at the 2013 US Open when Williams (No 1) faced Azarenka (No 2) and Djokovic (No 1) took on Nadal (No 2).
And if the class of 2025 is looking for omens, the women’s world No 1 (Williams) defeated the No 2 (Azarenka) in three sets while the reverse happened in the men’s final as the No 2 (Nadal) beat the No 2 (Djokovic) in four sets.
The last time the top two faced each other in both finals at Roland Garros was in 1984 when Martina Navratilova (No 1) and Chris Evert (No 2) competed in the women’s match and John McEnroe (No 1) and Ivan Lendl (No 2) met in the men’s final.
And there is a pattern as top seed Navratilova also beat Evert while Lendl overcame McEnroe.
So going by history and if you are a betting person, then your money should be on Sabalenka beating Gauff and Alcaraz defeating Sinner.
If you need another omen, Sabalenka won her most recent meeting against Gauff in the final of the Madrid Open while Alcaraz beat Sinner in the final of the Italian Open.
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“know that the job is not done yet,” Sabalenka said. “I have to go out there on Saturday, and I have to fight and I have to bring my best tennis, and I have to work for that title”
Gauff, who lost the 2022 French Open final, said: “My first final here I was super nervous, and I kind of wrote myself off before the match even happened. Obviously, here I have a lot more confidence just from playing a Grand Slam final before and doing well in one.”
Perhaps Alcaraz summed it up best ahead of his match against Sinner, but it is certainly applicable to Saturday’s showpiece match as well.
“It’s going to be a really great Sunday for fans of tennis.”
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