PUNE: Sania Mirza believes the women’s field at the French Open, starting on Sunday, is an “open mix”, while Jannik Sinner is the clear favourite among the men. Excerpts from an interaction…On her favourites to win the singles titles at Roland Garros this year:I think the men’s is easy, right? Jannik Sinner has been in incredible form, also (Carlos) Alcaraz is not in the mix, so Sinner does come in as a favourite.In the women, it’s actually an interesting mix. Usually you see Iga Swiatek dominating the clay court season. Coming into Roland Garros, she’s had a quiet first few months. Sabalenka has not been in the best of form. It’s honestly very open. My gut (feeling) is that we’ll see a new clay-court champion, outside of Sabalenka or Rybakina. It could be somebody like Mirra Andreeva. She’s been knocking on the door for a while.On Djokovic’s chances in the absence of Alcaraz:Definitely, it bumps up his chances. He doesn’t really lose to other people so much, unless he’s injured. Novak is still top-three, which is crazy, considering he’s 38-39 years old. Novak is somebody that has always proven physiology wrong, he’s proven nature wrong and people wrong. I don’t say this in a disrespectful way but he’s a dark horse because he’s not won a Grand Slam in the last couple years. I do feel that he comes in with a chance.On players’ demands for more prize money:This is a conversation that’s come up for the second time. This had happened when Roger (Federer) was still playing. And that’s why you see a hike in the prize money that has happened over the last few years.It’s not surprising that it’s come back up, because it wasn’t fully resolved at that point. But this time it does seem like they (players) are a bit more adamant about it. And if your top player, who’s won multiple Grand Slams in the last couple of years, is talking about it, it’s a big deal. So it’ll be interesting to see where it goes. (Catch all the action from Roland Garros 2026 starting May 24, live on Sony Sports Network)
