After nearly a month out of action, Jannik Sinner is set to return to competitive tennis to try and defend his Wimbledon title.
The World No 1 has not played since losing in the second round of Roland Garros, where he was stunned in five sets by Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Despite his slip-up in Paris, Sinner is still considered one of the overwhelming favourites to win the grass court Grand Slam.
With no Carlos Alcaraz in the Grand Slam draw yet again, Chris Evert believes Sinner should claim the fifth major title of his already glittering career.
Speaking to Tennis World Italia, Evert compared Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s current rivalry to that of Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
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“Monica Seles was world number one in 1993 when she was stabbed: from then on, in her absence, Steffi took power,” explained the American.
“A similar phenomenon has occurred with Jannik: he dominated without his main rival, Alcaraz, injured and unavailable,” said the multi-time Grand Slam champion, about the Spaniard’s unfortunate wrist injury.
Evert pondered over what might have happened on the European clay court swing if Alcaraz did not injure his wrist at the Barcelona Open.
“What would have happened with Monica and Carlos on the court, we will never know. It is clear that Sinner is irreproachable in his game,” she said.
“Until Roland Garros, he was untouchable and I expect him to be just as much on the grass of Wimbledon. In the five Masters 1000s he won consecutively, I saw his opponents intimidated, unable to disturb him,” she said, before suggesting the only thing that could stop him at Wimbledon.
“We understood that Sinner’s worst enemy is himself: he must stay healthy and avoid dips in form. If he manages that, I think that in ten years, we will be talking about a truly remarkable career.
“The problem for all the others, facing Jannik, is having to surpass themselves,” she said, before predicting one player she believes could trouble the Italian. “Personally, I will never underestimate Novak.”
Sinner heads into Wimbledon having not tasted defeat at the Grand Slam since the 2024 tournament. That came in the quarter-finals of the event, when he lost a five set battle to Daniil Medvedev.
Nevertheless, the World No 1 holds a brilliant record at SW19, despite only winning the title once in his first five appearances.
Ahead of the 2026 event, the Italian holds a 20–4 win-loss record, which equates to an astonishing 83% winning percentage.
The only players to defeat Sinner at Wimbledon are: Medvedev, Novak Djokovic (twice), and Márton Fucsovics.