Who were the winners and losers at 2025 Roland Garros?

In tennis’s cruel and majestic calculation, every Grand Slam tournament produces just two singles winners and a whole bunch of losers—254 of them, to be exact. Obviously, the word “loser” is less of an indictment in tennis than other contexts.

If you watched the extraordinary French Open men's final on Sunday, you know exactly what I mean. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top-ranked Jannik Sinner played a tennis match for the ages. Who would have the gall to describe Jannik Sinner as a “loser,” after that thrilling, record-setting five-and-a-half-hour demonstration of glorious shotmaking, .

But in this Grand Slam event, there was a third big winner joining Coco Gauff and Alcaraz: the game itself. This final will resonate in the global sports community for a long, long time It will generate reams of accolades, analyses and—yes—comparisons to the higher points of the Big Four rivalry. It will not suffer in those comparisons,

But this was a two-week Grand Slam event, offering plenty of high drama and even some low comedy. So let’s celebrate some of the notable winners—and losers—of Roland Garros 2025:

Winner: Carlos Alcaraz improved his head-to-head with Sinner to 8-4 with this, his fifth consecutive win (and third in a major) over Sinner. This performance, which lifted Alcaraz's record in Grand Slam finals to 5-0 also was a strong rebuke to those pundits and fans who have suggested that Alcaraz is too much the showman, too loose with his talent.

The Parisians loved his emotional nature and his, risk-friendly game. They propelled his amazing comeback and dragged him across the finish line. “The whole crowd were amazing,” Alcaraz told the press afterward. “There were a few corners of the crowd that was really, really helpful for me. Probably without them, it would have been impossible to come back.”

Loser: Iga Swiatek’s record at the French Open already guarantees her a place in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, but the way she was overwhelmed in the semis by No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka (halting Swiatek’s drive to win a fourth consecutive Roland Garros title) had special sting and sounded alarm bells.

Swiatek just went away early in the decisive third set, after mounting a brave second-set comeback. “I don't really know, I think I lost my intensity a bit,” . “She just played, you know, like pretty strong as in the first set, but I didn't react to that well.”

Winner: Novak Djokovic, age 37, took it on the chin in three consecutive tournaments after reaching the final of the Miami Open, losing before quarterfinals at each. The “R” word was bandied about. But he bludgeoned his way to the French quarterfinals, where he posted a magnificent win over No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev. Sinner beat Djokovic in a brutal semifinal, but many fingernails were gnawed to the quick in Italy during those three, tight, haymaker-strewn sets. “This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know,” Djokovic said later. “That's why I was a bit more emotional, even in the end.”

Loser: the Canadians are in danger of losing their cachet. Bianca Andreescu is a former US Open winner. Leylah Fernandez is a former Grand Slam finalist (US Open, 2021). Félix Auger-Aliassime has been ranked as high as No. 6 and left-hander Denis Shapovalov has tasted life in the Top 10. Yet that entire contingent accounted for exactly one main draw win this year, that one by Shapovalov.

The one bright spot: 18-year old Victoria Mboko, powered through qualifying and reached the third round. Her second-round win over Eva Lys landed Mboko in the WTA Top 100, a feat of which she said: “It's really exciting but I didn't know at all, to be honest, until I think my parents told me. I mean, who wouldn't want to be Top 100?”

Winner: Coco Gauff was somewhat overlooked while the looming showdown between No. 1 ranked Sabalenka (the hottest hand this year) and defending champion Iga Swiatek approached. But Gauff’s brilliant effort in the roller-coaster ride of a final sent a clear message, “I am not here to be overlooked.” As a result, she became the first American woman to win on the red dirt in a decade.

Gauff’s triumph was a testament to the superb athleticism that enabled the 21-year old Floridian to win in tricky, windy conditions, withstanding Sabalenka’s attempt to intimidate and smother her with the most imposing physique and powerful shots in women's tennis. Above all else, the effort demonstrated Gauff’s remarkable fighting spirit and faith in herself.

Loser: Daniil Medvedev - The 29-year old anti-stylist is not living his best life. Only one other top name (No. 4 Taylor Fritz) also lost his first match. Medvedev, a former US Open champion and ATP No. 1, is an anemic 18-11 on the year and he’s fallen out of the Top 10.

“I lost probably lost three times here in the first round in five sets. It's always the same story,” Mededev said. He was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year. Can he get back on track before the hard-court season?

Winner: Alexander Bublik, perhaps the last remaining wild child in tennis, had a career run that lifted the 6-foot-5, 27-year old back into the Top 50 on the strength of a quarterfinal run with improbable wins over No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur and No. 5 Jack Draper. It took top seed Jannik Sinner to stop Bublik. This guy is extremely talented, has big weapons as well as soft hands, and —perhaps most dangerous of all—a carefree attitude.

Bublik isn’t obsessed with career, and he has no specific goals other than remaining in the Top 50 for as long as possible. “Tennis for me is a journey. Tennis for me is a part of life, an important part of life. . .I prioritize health and my lifestyle, as well, because I have a family and I'm a father, and I have to do the father duties.”

Loser: the Czechs, who hail from a nation with a well-earned reputation for punching above its weight class, had a rough time of it. Babora Krejčíková has won the title at Roland Garros, Karolina Muchova is a former runner-up, Petra Kvitova is a two-time semifinalist in Paris. Then there’s Jiri Lehecka, Tomas Machac and recent Masters 1000 champ, 19-year old, No. 19-ranked Jakub Mensik. But the only woman to win a match this year at Roland Garros was Krejčíková, a second-round loser. The men hardly fared better, as Jiri Lehecka was the only one to advance as far as the third round.

Winner: Frances Tiafoe was stumbling through the year with a tepid 13-12 record, but he caught fire on clay, beat some tough clay dogs (including Daniel Altmaier) and joined Tommy Paul as the first two men from the US to advance to the quarterfinals in 30 years. Tiafoe has posted some of his best results at Wimbledon, so stay tuned.

Loser: Alexander Zverev took another Grand Slam gut punch in Paris, to remain the best—by far—active player who hasn’t won a major. As if still being behind that eight-ball wasn’t bad enough, the quarterfinals found him paired with newly resurgent nemesis, Novak Djokovic.

Their twilight match was played under damp, cool conditions, blunting the effect of Zverev's power. “It was very, very cold,” Zverev said after the four-set loss. “So, my serve speed was not very high. When the sun completely went down, it was difficult for me to get through the court.”

Winner: the French largely avoided the usual gloom and doom that surrounds the domestic effort in Paris. Loïs Boisson crafted a marvelous—and utterly unanticipated—run all the way to the semifinals. But even before then, Arthur Fils looked contender-strong, reaching round three before a back injury forced him out of the event. Quentin Halys upended Tomas Machac and Gaël Monfils set the tone for his compatriots with a dramatic comeback from two sets down to win a thrilling first-rounder in a night match.

The most surprising bit of high praise for Boisson came from men’s top seed Jannik Sinner, who has trained with her in the past: “It's amazing, no? I think that's exactly what France needs, you know, something very new, very special, great mentality.”