{"id":1865687,"date":"2026-04-04T13:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1865687"},"modified":"2026-04-04T13:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:00:30","slug":"andy-roddick-names-his-safest-choice-dark-horse-for-french-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1865687","title":{"rendered":"Andy Roddick names his &#8216;safest choice&#8217; dark horse for French Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Andy Roddick names his \u2018safest choice\u2019 dark horse for French Open<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"04 Apr 2026 2:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"04 Apr 2026 2:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1775307630\"><br \/>\n                            04 Apr 2026 2:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 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hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Andy Roddick names his \u2018safest choice\u2019 dark horse for French Open\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Alexander-Zverev-with-inset-of-Andy-Roddick-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Alexander Zverev with inset of Andy Roddick\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Alexander Zverev with inset of Andy Roddick                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>There is no doubt that Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will no doubt be the players to beat at the French Open and Andy Roddick believes there is one \u201csafe choice\u201d as an outside bet.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Alcaraz<\/a> has won back-to-back titles at Roland Garros as he beat Alexander Zverev in five sets in the 2024 final while last year\u2019s showpiece match against Sinner also went the distance with the Spaniard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/rafael-nadal-roger-federer-coco-gauff-react-carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-french-open\">saving three match points to win the title<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The seven-time Grand Slam winner and Sinner have been the standout players at Grand Slams the past few years \u2013 sharing the last nine majors between them \u2013 while Djokovic has been the best of the rest.<\/p>\n<p>Those three will once again top the list of favourites for the clay-court Grand Slam, but who is the dark horse?<\/p>\n<p>According to former world No 1, Zverev is well clear of the rest of the pack as he stated on the <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uO1OwKfxmEc\" target=\"_blank\">Served with Andy Roddick<\/a> podcast: \u201cZverev. I mean, he\u2019s been in the final. He\u2019s won Masters Series on it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike, you go back and you recreate his career and you take out those names you just said [Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic], and he\u2019s looking at five or six Slams. That\u2019s not the way the world works. I wish it did, personally, but, like, yeah, Zverev.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut then you take those names out of it, and then all of a sudden, you have ten people who are, like, you know, [Arthur] Fils catches a gear, and they\u2019re like, I don\u2019t know, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>ATP News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/jannik-sinner-world-no1-carlos-alcaraz-clay-court-predictions\">Jannik Sinner becomes world No 1, Carlos Alcaraz dethroned \u2013 clay court predictions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-pull-out-french-open-latest-big-decision\">Novak Djokovic\u2019s latest big decision fuels rumours over his French Open participation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Four of Zverev\u2019s even ATP Masters 1000 titles have come on clay while he has also reached four semi-finals at Roland Garros and two quarter-finals, including last year when he was beaten by Djokovic.<\/p>\n<p>Roddick went on to give a detailed explanation about why he feels Zverev is a safe bet as he also highlighted the world No 3\u2019s weaknesses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, Zverev. He\u2019s not a clay-court specialist. It might not even be his best surface,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, he knows how to play. He plays great on clay. Like, he needs more\u2026 On that forehand, like, his biggest weakness is what, the forehand? When someone rushes into that side. Clay, you have more time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis ball flight is loopy. That plays better on clay. He moves well on clay, especially for someone as big as he is. He would be the safest choice, but, I mean, the odds for 10 players would look significantly different [if not for Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic].\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andy Roddick names his \u2018safest choice\u2019 dark horse for French Open Shahida Jacobs 04 Apr 2026 2:00 PM Alexander Zverev with inset of Andy Roddick There is no doubt that Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will no doubt be the players to beat at the French Open and Andy Roddick believes there is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1865687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1865687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1865687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1865687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1865687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}