The claycourt season is in the rear-view mirror, two new major champions have been crowned and we’ve watched professional tennis make its rapid annual transition to grass.
With Wimbledon beginning later this month, will the best performed players on clay continue their momentum, or will those who suffered disappointment rebound?
Here are five plotlines we’re keeping an eye on…
Andreeva and Zverev hungry for more
Despite being 10 years apart in age, teenager Mirra Andreeva and 29-year-old Alexander Zverev scored Grand Slam triumphs at Roland Garros that many had predicted for years.
There’s a sense this could be the first of many for Andreeva, who alongside a penchant for clay has already twice reached the second week at Wimbledon, including a quarterfinal run last year.
“Honestly, now I'm already thinking of how I'm going to prepare for the grass season, how I'm going to play grass tournaments,” said Andreeva following her 6-3 6-2 win over Maja Chwalinska in the RG final. “I feel like this thing is a little bit addicting, and I really want to do my best to experience all of this for the second time.”
Zverev has shown less aptitude on grass compared to other surfaces. He’s reached the quarterfinal stage 17 times at Grand Slam tournaments, but never at Wimbledon.
Yet there’s a sense that winning his first major title at Roland Garros, after three previous major final losses, might unshackle the world No.3.
“Maybe,” he agreed. “Now no matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion, and nobody can take that away from me. Maybe that does give me some freedom. Maybe my mind will just be a little bit calmer when I play a final, meaning that even if I lose it, I will still be a Grand Slam champion.
“Now that I've won it, I feel like I can do it again.”
Chwalinska watch
Meanwhile, Chwalinska does not know where she will play next.
The Polish lefty, just the second qualifier ever to reach a Grand Slam final, was world No.116 at the time the Wimbledon entry lists were released – well outside the main-draw ranking cutoff.
Now, thanks to her run at Roland Garros, she’s soared to world No.21, which would guarantee her a seeding at the All England Club.
She’ll require a wildcard to enter the Wimbledon main draw. If not, she’ll have to head to Roehampton, a week before the main draw, to attempt to qualify.
“(The) last years it's been a struggle for me on grass, honestly,” said Chwalinska, who qualified for Wimbledon in 2022 and won her first-round match, her only Grand Slam win prior to Paris.
“But before I loved playing on grass. I feel like I can use a lot of touch and slices. I move pretty well on the court, and I anticipate pretty well.
“It's always exciting because it's such a short period of time that we have on grass. I guess I'll see, but I'm ready for the challenge.”
Superstars looking to rebound
The possible silver lining for top players like Jannik Sinner, Elena Rybakina, Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek, who lost early at Roland Garros?
They have more time to reset and prepare for Wimbledon.
This was the case last year for Swiatek, who after a semifinal loss in Paris – instead of her customary run to the trophy – enjoyed previously-unavailable extra practice days on the lawns, then reached the Bad Homburg final, giving her the confidence she needed to hoist the Venus Rosewater Dish just weeks later.
Sinner, whose three consecutive claycourt Masters titles meant he had a lot of tennis in his legs ahead of Roland Garros, will have benefitted from some rest as he now focuses on his Wimbledon title defence.
AO champion Rybakina also went out in round two in Paris and has loaded up her grasscourt schedule – she’s playing Queen’s, Berlin and Eastbourne – before Wimbledon, where she too is a former champion.
Djokovic, meanwhile, lost the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon finals to Carlos Alcaraz, who will be missing from this year’s tournament due to an ongoing wrist injury.
Serena’s comeback rolls on
The biggest story this week has been the return of Serena Williams, who after four years in retirement emerged to win her first-round doubles match with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club.
Sadly, Mboko suffered a nasty knee injury in her second-round singles match, retiring midway through the second set against Karolina Pliskova and putting her doubles campaign with Williams in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, Serena already has her next week’s plans set, with the WTA Berlin tournament announcing she will compete on the lawns of their WTA 500 tournament.
As for singles? “I can’t say yeah, I can’t say no right now,” Williams answered. “I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles and we’ll see if I get there and if not, that’s not my journey right now.”
For more on Serena’s comeback, head to our new Substack Front Row with the AO, where we break it down.
Wimbledon approaches
The grasscourt major will be upon us soon, with qualifying kicking off in just 11 days – with or without Chwalinska.
Main-draw action will begin on Monday 29 June at the All England Club.
It’s where we’ll find out if Djokovic can win an historic 25th major title, whether Sinner and Swiatek will shrug off their Roland Garros disappointment to defend their titles, if world No.1 Sabalenka can win her first major off hardcourts, and how Andreeva and Zverev will fare in the shift from clay to grass.
Or, will two new Grand Slam champions be crowned, as they were in Paris?