2024 French Open Ultimate Guide: Full schedule, where to watch, players involved and more as the 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal waves farewell to Roland Garros for one last time

The French Open returns this Sunday as the 'King of Clay', Rafael Nadal looks to bid farewell to the court which brought him so much success over the past few years. 

The Spaniard will be hoping he can continue his impressive record at Roland Garros, winning 112 of 115 games he has played at the Parisian venue as he is expected to draw a close to his illustrious career in cherished surroundings. 

The 37-year-old faces an uphill battle however if he wishes to go out on a high as defending champion Novak Djokovic will also be returning to defend his crown.

World No 1 and defending women's champion Iga Swiatek is favourite to retain her rights as the best on the clay in the women's singles.  

Below, Mail Sport gives you the lowdown on all the information you need to know about the 2024 French Open, including start time, full schedule, where to watch and  who to look out for as the tennis elite battle to write themselves into the record books this summer.

When is the 2024 French Open?  

The tournament takes place at Roland Garros in Paris, with the action getting underway on Sunday May 26. The women’s singles tournament will conclude with the final on Saturday June 8 and the men’s singles will finish on Sunday June 9.

Play starts at 10am UK time each day in the first week, with a separate night session at 7.30pm.

Where can I watch the French Open?

The French Open will be available to watch live on Discovery+ and Eurosport for UK fans. 

Eurosport customers can watch all the action across the broadcasters TV channels and for those who aren't paying customers, fans can watch the action on the streaming platform Discovery+.

An Entertainment and Sport pass on Discovery+ is available for £6.99/month. You can purchase the pass here.   

US fans can watch all the action from Roland Garros on the Tennis Channel, NBC or Peacock. 

What’s new this year?

The Suzanne Lenglen court has a retractable roof for the first time, meaning Roland Garros has joined Wimbledon in having roofs over its two biggest courts.

2024 French Open Schedule 

During the first ten days of the competition, matches that are scheduled for the outside courts will begin from 11am UK time.

Whilst those scheduled for the show courts will begin from 12pm.

There will also be night sessions, which will be played Court Philippe-Chatrier. Those matches have been fixed to get underway from 8:15pm. 

• Sunday 26 May: Men’s and women’s singles, first round
• Monday 27 May: Men’s and women’s singles, first round  
• Tuesday 28 May: Men’s and women’s singles, first round  
• Wednesday 29 May: Men’s and women’s singles, second round  
• Thursday 30 May: Men’s and women’s singles, second round  
• Friday 31 May: Men’s and women’s singles, third round  
• Saturday 1 June: Men’s and women’s singles, third round  
• Sunday 2 June: Men’s and women’s singles, fourth round  
• Monday 3 June: Men’s and women’s singles, fourth round  
• Tuesday 4 June: Men’s and women’s singles, quarter-finals  
• Wednesday 5 June: Men’s and women’s singles, quarter-finals  
• Thursday 6 June: Men’s and women’s singles, semi-finals  
• Friday 7 June: Men’s and women’s singles, semi-finals 
• Saturday: Women's singles final, wheelchair final, men's doubles final
• Sunday 9 June: Men's singles final, women's double finals 

Which Brits are playing…and what are their chances?

Women: Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart. 

Men: Cam Norrie, Jack Draper, Dan Evans, Andy Murray

We should not expect too much from the Brits this fortnight. Boulter is still a relative novice on clay and Murray has little form coming in. 

Norrie and Draper – almost neck and neck for British No1 – have the best chance of progression but they are due to run into Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz respectively relatively early.

Player seedings ahead of 2024 French Open

Who is favourite for the title, what about the outsiders?

On the women’s side, this is an easy one. Iga Swiatek is favourite to win her third Suzanne Lenglen Cup in a row and her fourth in five years. 

No1 in the world, she is not at her best on grass and has close matchups with the other top players on a hard court but on clay she is not far off Rafael Nadal levels of dominance.

She comes in unbeaten in 12 matches having won titles in both Madrid and Rome. 

Her draw is a little uncomfortable in that she is due to play four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round. But the Japanese superstar only returned to the tour this year after having her first child, and Swiatek should be able to handle her.

The biggest threat to Swiatek is the woman whom she beat in those the Madrid and Rome finals: Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. 

The Madrid final was the match of the year so far and showed the world No2 has the game to trouble Swiatek on her favoured surface. 

‘I’ll get you in Roland Garros,’ Sabalenka told her rival with a smile after the Rome final.

Top 3 favourites:

1. Iga Swiatek: Madrid champion, Rome champion, defending champion. The Pole ticks every box and it will take an incredible performance to dethrone her
2. Aryna Sabalenka: A woman who is certainly capable of the incredible. Even in defeat she will take confidence from running Swiatek so close in Madrid.
3. Elena Rybakina: Has never made it beyond the quarters here but she is the only woman to have beaten Swiatek on clay this year. 

Outsiders:

1. Danielle Collins: The American is set to retire at the end of the year as she manages multiple health conditions, but she is having the season of her life. Since March, the only women to beat her are Swiatek and Sabalenka.
2. Coco Gauff: Class player and can never be discounted, but she is without a title since January and has a 1-10 record against Swiatek.  
3. Jelena Ostapenko: The 2017 champion’s all-out attack style is incredibly unpredictable but that will always give her a chance on her favoured surface.

Who is favourite for the men? 

In the men’s draw, things are far less certain. Nadal is making his final visit to the place where he has won 14 titles but he is surely not capable of making it 15. 

He has been trying to accumulate match fitness but has only five wins in three tournaments on clay and was handed a horrific first-round match against No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev. 

That famous aura will have to do an awful lot of heavy lifting if Nadal is to make it through that one.

Novak Djokovic has not made a single final this year has had a couple of startling loses, including in Rome when he seemed to be suffering the effects of being hit on the head by a bottle falling from a spectator’s bag in the previous round.

After his semi-final defeat in Geneva on Friday night Djokovic said: ‘Of course I'm worried. I haven't played well at all this year, apart from a few matches here and there. I don’t see myself as a favourite at Roland Garros.’

This fortnight will be the acid test: are the powers of a man who turned 37 on Wednesday finally fading, or will he click back into gear now the serious business of Grand Slam tennis has begun?

The two players who ought to be poised to take advantage of a below-par Djokovic are Alcaraz and Sinner, but the duo set to establish the next great rivalry in men’s tennis both come in under injury clouds.

The Spaniard (arm) and Italian (hip) were both doubts for Roland Garros but they are here and gave cautiously optimistic reports of their fitness. Until the clay starts flying we cannot properly assess their chances.

These swirling doubts mean there should be a healthy contingent of players steeling themselves to take advantage and snatch a Grand Slam title. 

The obvious names all come in with a title under their belt, too: Stefanos Tsitsipas won in Monte Carlo, Casper Ruud in Barcelona and Zverev in Rome. Andrey Rublev came off an awful run of form to win the Madrid Masters and thrust himself into the conversation.

In terms of the draw, Djokovic will be happy to have fallen in the opposite half to both Alcaraz and Sinner, but his projected route of Ruud in the quarters and Zverev in the semis will be extremely tough if he is not at his best.

Favourites:

1. Novak Djokovic: The man himself says he is not the favourite but I disagree. There are many reasons why he should not be favourite but 24 Grand-Slam-sized reasons why he should.
2. Alexander Zverev: Yes, the first-round against Nadal uncomfortable but he should come through that. World No4 is simply in better form and fitness than the three players ahead of him in the rankings.  
3. Carlos Alcaraz: Fully-fit and with a good clay season behind him he would be favourite but the arm injury adds uncertainty. 

Outsiders:

1. Casper Ruud: Twice a finalist here, the Norwegian is a superb clay-court player. His tough draw prevents him sneaking on the favourites list.
2. Stefanos Tsitsipas: The Greek won the Monte Carlo Masters then made the final in Barcelona. In the same quarter as Alcaraz, he looks the best placed to take advantage if the Spaniard’s body lets him down.  
3. Hubert Hurkacz: The title would be huge shock but if you take Sinner out of the equation the Pole’s section of the draw looks wide open for a run to the semis at least. 

What is the total prize money for the 2024 French Open?

This year's total prize fund has been increased by a further 7.8 percent from last year's earnings.

Meaning the total prize amount for the competition now stands at £45.7million (€53.5m, $58.12m). 

To find out how much each player will make depending on when they exit, check out Mail's prize money article here.  

Attending the French Open

If you are one of the lucky few who have an opportunity to attend this year's French Open at Roland Garros in Paris.

Here is everything you need to know.

Dress Attire

There is a long standing tradition that spectators should wear neutral tone when they are within the grounds of the Roland Garros.

The unenforced rule came into play as an attempt to distract the players less. We also recommend that you wear plenty of sunscreen and bring a hat or scarf as spectators have been know to get burnt over the basking French sun. 

For the ladies, you can expect to see a lot of dresses or jeans paired with a polo and a hat.

Whilst the men mainly opt to wear either polos or button-downs. 

Food and drink at the French Open?

There is a wide variety of food and drink up for grabs at the French Open from fine dining to grocery shops and a food court. 

With roughly 40 dining spaces available to chose from and roughly 60 French-based producers supplying all the ingredients to the venue, the 40,000 spectators who pass through the grounds each day are almost guaranteed to find something they like. 

The most popular food options across the site include the focaccia sandwich made fresh on site daily, it is a brioche sandwich with special recipes for Roland Garros. 

Other fan favourites include the Caesar salads, lemon pie and cookies which ate all made fresh on site. 

As well as the delicious crepes and waffles that can be found in the food court. 

The go to drink at the Roland Garros is champagne, provided by Moët + Chandon.

However to nobody's surprise water is the top-selling beverage at the Paris venue, with champagne coming in a strong second.