Sania Mirza says the women’s field at the French Open, starting on Sunday, is an “open mix” and tips Mirra Andreeva to emerge a new Grand Slam champion.In the men’s field, the two-time Grand Slam doubles champion said Jannik Sinner was the favourite given his current form, but 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic would be a dark horse in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz.Excerpts from an online interaction: ON HER FAVOURITES TO WIN THE SINGLES TITLES AT ROLAND GARROS THIS YEARI think the men’s is easy, right? Jannik Sinner has been in incredible form, also that (Carlos) Alcaraz is not in the mix, he does come in as a favourite. In the women, it’s actually, after a while I think, it’s quite an interesting mix. In the last few tournaments, one 1000 (Madrid) has been won by (Marta) Kostyuk, another 1000 (Rome) has been won by (Elina) Svitolina. 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, she’s so young, and she seems to be coming into her own.ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S CHANCES IN THE ABSENCE OF ALCARAZDefinitely, it bumps them up. 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. I think 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. But I do feel that he comes in with a chance.ON PLAYERS’ DEMAND FOR INCREASED PRIZE MONEYThis 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)
