Preview: Roland Garros finalists return to action for 2025 Wimbledon warm-ups

One day the tennis world is wrapping up two months of long rallies and heavy topspin on red clay. Within 24 hours, it’s kicking off a five-week stretch of power serves and rapid-fire holds on grass. Is there another sport that contains such thoroughly different versions of itself?

This makes for a refreshing change of pace for fans. For the players, though, it means scrambling to adjust to a different surface under your feet, and a different type of shot coming your way. Normally, a player who reaches a Grand Slam final might not be seen again for a month or more. But the four winners and runners-up at Roland Garros—Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka—are back at it on grass this week.

Three storylines to watch as spring turns to summer, and Roland Garros turns to Wimbledon:

Alcaraz and Sinner return to familiar warm-up spots

The Spaniard and the Italian followed in the Slam-final footsteps of Roger Federer and Rafal Nadal with their classic match at Roland Garros. Now they’ll follow them again in their choices of Wimbledon warm-up venues. In the late-aughts, Federer would head for Halle, and Nadal for Queen’s Club. Alcaraz and Sinner will continue that tradition this week.

Alcaraz is at Queen’s for the third straight year. If you’re looking for a clue to how he’ll play at Wimbledon, you may have a hard time figuring it out from what he does this week. Two years ago, he won the title at Queen’s, and went on to win at the All England Club. Last year he lost early to Jack Draper but still went on to win Wimbledon.

This time Draper is the No. 2 seed, and thus in the opposite half. But Alcaraz’s lack of grass preparation will make him vulnerable to a big hitter again. He’ll start against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He could play either Ben Shelton or Reilly Opelka in the third round. Jakub Mensik and Holger Rune are potential quarterfinal opponents.

Sinner is the defending champion in Halle. The field is roughly as difficult as Queens, with Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and Andrey Rublev rounding out the top four seeds. The biggest obstacle Sinner might face will be his own memory; even for a guy as outwardly even-keel as he is, rebounding from a Roland Garros defeat like that might take some time.

Or maybe getting back on a new surface, in a different atmosphere, will be the best thing for him. Sinner will start against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, and could have a tricky second round versus Alexander Bublik, who won this tournament in 2023.

Sabalenka and Gauff could meet again in Berlin

Who wants to avenge their Roland Garros final more, Aryna or Coco? Obviously, Sabalenka, the loser last week, would be motivated to turn that result around before Wimbledon. But Gauff, who was essentially called lucky by Sabalenka in Paris, might be driven to show that her victory was no fluke.

Of course, each of them will have to win three matches before they face off, and neither is a sure thing on grass. The two lost in the quarters (Sabalenka) and semis (Gauff) in Berlin last year, and neither has been to a Wimbledon final. The seeds on Sabalenka’s side are Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, and Madison Keys. The seed’s in Gauff’s half are Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, and Paula Badosa. Emma Navarro, who beat Gauff at Wimbledon last year, could be a third-round opponent of hers.

In the bigger picture, grass and Wimbledon are the next frontier for both Sabalenka and Gauff. With Iga Swiatek no longer ahead of them in the rankings, and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina not quite the threat she has been, the road should feel a little more open for them this time.

Who else should we be watching for the week?

Draper’s is the name that stands out first on the men’s side. He’ll be at home for the next month, and he has developed a serve-forehand attack that should be at its most formidable on grass. Last year, he beat Alcaraz at Queen’s before losing to countryman Cam Norrie at Wimbledon. This year Draper is No. 4 in the world, and he may get another crack at Carlitos at Queen’s this week. A potential semifinal with Taylor Fritz, who just won a title on grass in Stuttgart, also looms large.

On the women’s side, there may be a dozen players who merit watching as Wimbledon approaches. If the relative decline of Swiatek helps Sabalenka and Gauff, it helps everyone else, too. Paolini, Rybakina, Zheng, Keys, Andreeva, Anisimova, Pegula, Badosa, Navarro, Donna Vekic are among those who are playing in Berlin, and who are capable of going all the way at the Big W. Pegula may be someone who could spring a surprise: She won Berlin last year, and had eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova on the ropes in the quarters at Wimbledon two years ago.

We’ll have a better idea of who’s ready for grass after this week.