Daniil Medvedev picks his two French Open favourites as he makes telling Novak Djokovic comment

Daniil Medvedev believes there are now two clear favourites to win the French Open as he admitted that Novak Djokovic has a handicap due to his leg injury.

World No 1 Djokovic as well as reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner and two-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz were the bookies’ favourites to lift the trophy in Paris before a ball was hit in anger at Roland Garros.

The trio are safely into the quarter-final, but while Sinner and Alcaraz have breezed through the first four rounds as they have dropped only one set each, Djokovic has enjoyed a contrasting journey.

The defending champion has already spent more than 13 hours on court after going the distance in his last two encounters against Lorenzo Musetti and Francisco Cerundolo, respectively, with the those two matches lasting over nine hours combined.

To add to Djokovic’s woes, he has also been struggling with a knee injury and the problem nearly forced him to retire during the clash against Cerundolo as he revealed he is not sure if he will be fit for his last-four match against Casper Ruud.

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Following his defeat at the hands of Ruud at Roland Garros, Medvedev was asked who he thinks will win the tournament and he went for the two rising stars in Sinner and Alcaraz.

“Oh, very, very tough to say. Well, you know, I always think predictions are a little bit disrespectful, because when you say someone, it’s like you’re a bit underestimating the other guys,” he said.

“But I would say that statistically – well, I saw Novak struggling with his leg or something, so this, I don’t know.

“At the moment seeing Novak struggling with his leg, I would say Carlos or Jannik because they are both playing good. Jannik had a tough one yesterday, managed to come back.

“So it’s just, you know, statistically, they both have a Slam, they have experience. They are top 2, 3 in the world, so my opinion, Carlos or Jannik. But let’s see.”

Sinner and Alcaraz remain on course to meet in the semi-final as the pair are in the bottom half of the draw. The Italian will face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-final while Alcaraz is up against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Three-time champion Djokovic, if fit to play, will take on Ruud and if he gets through that clash then he will meet either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur in the last four.

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