Old school Tennis and Bagels is BACK with the brains of the podcast: Vansh Vermani, the living tennis encyclopedia brings all his in-depth analysis and knowledge of players' form, injury, court conditions, past results, and more.

We are doing a full draw preview, going section by section of both the Roland Garros men's and women's draws and finally making our picks for semi-finalists, finalists, and champions of the 2026 French Open!

On the WTA side, great popcorn matches all around, with some really strong potential for upsets that could turn the draw upside down. But also trust in the seeded players, to find solutions, make it deep in the draw, and conquer their nemeses. Will Aryna Sabalenka win her first major of 2026? Will Coco Gauff defend her title with her grit through highs and lows? Can Elena Rybakina complete the Surface Slam? Is it the time that Iga Swiatek will finally overcome the Ostapenko mission impossible? Or is it someone else's time to win big in Paris?

On the ATP, the Jannik Sinner question remains unanswered: who can stop him at all? Seemingly unbeatable, it feels like acts of God are his only great challenge left without Alcaraz in the draw and an aging Novak Djokovic. If injury, terrible weather conditions with a brutally hot sun, and/or a miraculous performance by some anointed player doesn't stop him, it feels like nothing will. Though Djokovic already operated miracles during his career, including the Australian Open earlier this year, and Medvedev coming back from getting double-bageled by Berrettini in Monte Carlo to take a set off Sinner in Rome does sound like a godly act, too.

Who will prevail on the red clay?

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(I said Svitolina beat four Top 20 players on route to the Rome title - this is wrong. She beat three Top 5 opponents, but the next higher ranking she beat was World no.25 Hailey Baptiste.)

Elina Svitolina wins her first WTA 1000 since Rome 2018. Her third crown in the Italian capital, with hard-fought, well-earned wins over Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff. What a tournament by the Ukrainian, who sits now as the WTA Race World No.3, and No.7 in the 52-week rankings.

Will that be enough to earn her a first grand slam title at Roland Garros, starting next week??

Time will tell - but, I think that would be really difficult. Not so much because Svitolina is not a great player, in fact, she's probably the best version of herself on a tennis court in her career.

But the WTA is full of surprises, and the level is insanely high across the board. The Top 5 is playing amazing tennis, with Aryna Sabalenka being as consistent a World No.1 can be, reaching SF and Finals at almost every tournament she plays, only without the major title to show for it in 2026. Which in turn could make her even more dangerous an motivated to win her first Roland Garros trophy.

Elena Rybakina the WTA Race World No.1, World No.2 in the 52-week rankings, and Australian Open champion, would be looking to transform her Race ranking into her real ranking, climbing to World No.1 for the first time in her career with a deep run in Paris - a title would all but guarantee it. And then, who knows: a Calendar Grand Slam in the making?

Gauff, the defending champion at Roland Garros, lost to Svitolina in the Rome final in a tough three-setter. Doesn't matter how Gauff plays, it seems it's always impossible to beat her without massive effort. There are no true bad days for the American. She's coming for that title again, no matter who stands in her way - even if it's her own self.

Finally, Iga Swiatek. The four-time Roland Garros champion started the year without playing well at all. All seemed completely out of control, with her game spiraling and losses stacking up. Until Francisco Roig joined her team as her new coach, and a couple days with Rafa Nadal himself, seemingly changed the course of her year overnight. Now playing a much more confident tennis, with her strengths emphasized and game plans set on more that just hit the ball very hard, Swiatek made us all look at her again as one of the top favourites. But you can't just erase months of struggle like that, and her loss to Svitolina in Rome showed that, despite the great progress over this clay season, Swiatek might still have some internal issues to work out before fully returning to her very best. Will it happen at Roland Garros 2026?

We will have to wait and see how all this unfolds.

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Since Alcaraz announced he'd miss the remainder of the clay season, it was obvious: Jannik Sinner would be utterly unchallenged to win Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros.

It has gone pretty much as expected from him. Only surprise was losing a set to Medvedev. Other than that, it almost seems disingenuous to say there's any doubt Sinner will sweep the Clay Slam, just like Rafael Nadal did in 2010, the only player to do so.

As we close the Masters events on clay, there are some interesting stories still to follow, including Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Jodar. But these will all be left as side quests to Sinner's iron fist domination over the ATP Tour.

It seems only a miracle will stop him - and that has now extended itself until Wimbledon, now that Alcaraz has shocked the world one more time by announcing his withdrawal.

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