The French Open is the second of tennis’ four Grand Slams. Taking place in late May and early June, it is the only Grand Slam played on clay courts.
As a result, the list of tennis betting favourites for the event often features some different names – this is a chance for clay-court specialists to write their name into the sport’s history books.
There are other factors to consider from a live betting perspective, too.
Long rallies are the norm on the iconic red clay of Roland Garros, testing the durability, flexibility, and recovery times of each player competing across the men’s and women’s draws.
Here are the most successful players in the Open Era:
Rafael Nadal – 14 titles
The King of Clay is – by an enormous margin – the most successful player in French Open history.
Rafael Nadal holds a raft of records on clay courts, including winning 81 consecutive matches, which is the longest single-surface streak in the Open Era.
From 2005 until 2022, only three other players won the men’s singles title at Roland Garros. His 96.6% winning percentage at the event is clear of anyone else, as is his total of 112 total match wins and 15 semi-final appearances.
In 2008, 2010, 2017, and 2020, Nadal won the French Open without dropping a set.
Unsurprisingly, he’s the only player to have done this on four occasions. He’s not only the lone player to have won a French Open title in three separate decades – the Spaniard won multiple titles in each of those decades.
Standing alone in every category, Nadal is undeniably the greatest clay-court player in tennis history. Many of his records look utterly unbreakable.
Chris Evert – 7 titles
Seven of Chris Evert’s 18 Grand Slam titles were won at Roland Garros. Evert, with 70 overall clay titles, is the most successful clay court female tennis player of all-time.
The American defended the French Open on three occasions, going back-to-back in 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, and 1985, 1986.
Her French Open finals were dominated by duels with Martina Navratilova – four of her eight finals were against Navratilova, and she was victorious on three occasions.
Steffi Graf is the only player with more wins at the French Open. In the Open Era, Iga Świątek is the only player who can boast a better winning percentage than Evert at Roland Garros.
Björn Borg – 6 titles
Prior to Nadal’s reign, Björn Borg was in a league of his own at the French Open. Borg has double as many titles as any other man in the Open Era, winning four in a row from 1978 to 1981 after going back-to-back in 1974 and 1975.
The Swede’s wins in 1978 and 1980 were completed without dropping a set. His winning percentage of 96.1% is only narrowly behind Nadal and puts him over 10 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival.
Borg didn’t have the longevity to put up a huge number of wins (he has less than half of Nadal’s total), but he was a Nadal level of dominant during his pomp in the 1970s and early eighties.
Steffi Graf – 6 titles
Twelve years separated Graf’s six French Open titles. Runner-up on three occasions, including some iconic bouts with her rival Monica Seles, Graf first won at Roland Garros when she defeated Navratilova in an epic final in 1987.
In 1988, Graf won the French Open without dropping a set en route to completing the calendar year Grand Slam. She lost three of the next four finals before winning three French Open titles in a four-year period.
Justine Henin – 4 titles
Justine Henin defeated compatriot Kim Clijsters in straight sets to claim her first French Open title. Two years later, the Belgian dispatched Mary Pierce to win at Roland Garros for a second time.
This started a run of three consecutive French Open titles, equalling the record set by Monica Seles. In the second and third of those titles, Henin didn’t drop a single set.
Only four players in the Open Era can boast a better winning percentage at Roland Garros.
Iga Świątek – 4 titles
Świątek is destined to climb this list. Champion of this event in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024, Świątek has already equalled Henin and Seles’ historic mark of three consecutive French Open crowns.
A 35-2 record at Roland Garros is unmatched in the Open Era. A run of 21 consecutive wins is already the fourth-most all-time and could be added to at the 2025 edition of the French Open.
Most Roland Garros Wins All-Time
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Rafael Nadal – 14
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Max Decugis – 8
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Chris Evert – 7
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Björn Borg – 6
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Steffi Graf – 6
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Suzanne Lenglen – 6
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Henri Cochet – 5
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Margaret Court – 5
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Adine Masson – 5
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Iga Świątek – 4
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Justine Henin – 4
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Andre Vacherot – 4
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Paul Ayme – 4
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Kate Gillou – 4
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Jeanne Matthey – 4
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Helen Wills – 4
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Mats Wilander – 3
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Ivan Lendl – 3
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Gustavo Kuerten – 3
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Novak Djokovic – 3
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Maurice Germot – 3
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Rene Lacoste – 3
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Arantxa Sánchez Vicario – 3
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Monica Seles – 3
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Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling – 3
Who are the Most Successful French Open Doubles Players?
Martina Navratilova holds the record with seven women’s doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles. Roy Emerson is the most successful player in men’s doubles with six titles in six years in the 1960s.
Emerson and Navratilova also won two singles titles apiece at Roland Garros.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Adobe*
