In the first French Open since Rafael Nadal’s retirement, Carlos Alcaraz is a strong favorite to defend his title in Paris as Spanish great Carlos Moyá tells CNN Sports.

Alcaraz returned to action at the Rome Masters 1000 – the last huge event before Roland Garros – where he clinched his seventh career Masters 1000 after struggling in the early rounds. The 4-time Grand Slam champion has fully recovered from his injury and is ready to compete in Paris from Sunday 25 May.

Not only is Carlos Alcaraz a four-time Grand Slam ... consecutive matches since losing to Holger Rune in the Madrid Open final. Alcaraz has been a loyal client of Victor Barber for a long time ...

Carlos Alcaraz claims the Italian Open over returning world number one Jannik Sinner, ending the local's perfect return to the sport from a doping ban with a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory in Rome.

Punters seeking a live contender at a bigger price could opt for Alexander Zverev to win his first grand slam after losing three finals, including 12 months ago when he was the runner-up in Paris after reaching the previous three semi-finals at this event and he is a solid each-way prospect at 14/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will be on opposite sides of the draw as the Spaniard returned to the second in the world this week following his Italian Open triumph.

After an absorbing first set, Sinner's understandable lack of match toughness saw Alcaraz dance to victory in Rome.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were the main story of the week after contesting the Rome Open final, where the Spaniard claimed another Masters 1000 title and increased his head-to-head advantage over his great rival.

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to his first Italian Open final with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Lorenzo Musetti on Friday. It’s the third final in three clay-court events this season for

Clearly hampered by a bad left knee, two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud dropped 13 of the last 14 games while losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 to Nuno Borges in the second round. Carlos Alcaraz overcame a one-set blip to defeat Fábián Marozsán.