Jannik Sinner may not be a complete guarantee for the Roland Garros title after his performance in the Italian Open final.
Sinner made tennis history after beating Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to win the Italian Open title, enabling him to become the youngest man ever to win every Masters 1000 title.
It has been a remarkable run for the world number one, with Ruud heaping praise on Sinner after he won his 25th consecutive match.
With Carlos Alcaraz not playing Roland Garros this year, all signs point to Sinner being a shoo-in for the title in Paris, but it may not be as easy as many think it will be for the Italian.
Jannik Sinner did not play that well in the Italian Open final
Sinner dropped only one set at the Italian Open this year, which came in his semifinal against Daniil Medvedev where he was clearly not feeling well.
Despite seemingly feeling much better in the final, Sinner produced a below-par performance against Ruud and was making some uncharacteristic unforced errors.
Ruud was unable to take advantage of this, as he also did not play his best tennis in the Italian Open final.
While some of Sinner’s performance could be put down to the pressure of playing in the final of his home Masters 1000 tournament, it should be encouraging to other ATP players hoping to get their hands on the Roland Garros title next month.
How would you rate Jannik Sinner’s performance in the Italian Open final out of 10?
Sinner will be under immense pressure at Roland Garros as the huge favorite, which could see him produce some of these sloppy errors once again.
Ruud was unable to capitalise on this, but there will be players at Roland Garros who are a more tricky matchup for Sinner when he is not feeling his best.
With Alcaraz not playing Roland Garros this year, it is the best possible opportunity for many of these players to get their hands on a major title, and perhaps none other than Novak Djokovic, who still continues to seek a 25th major and actually beat Sinner at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Jannik Sinner may be more vulnerable playing five sets at Roland Garros
Sinner’s below-par performances may also be more of a risk to him at Roland Garros due to the best-of-five set match format.
The 24-year-old has already won four Grand Slam titles, but Sinner has previously struggled in longer matches at majors.
This is highlighted by his record in matches that last over three hours and 50 minutes, where Sinner has a 0-9 record.
Sinner also will be going for the Career Grand Slam at Roland Garros, and after losing in the final last year to Alcaraz in such heartbreaking circumstances, he may have too much pressure to deal with.
Where does Jannik Sinner rank among the all-time greats after winning the Italian Open? 🤔
Despite all this being said, Sinner is clearly the big favorite to win Roland Garros and has already shown how he deals with pressure so brilliantly in his recent run of winning five consecutive Masters 1000 titles.
But as suggested in Rome by Andrey Rublev, Sinner’s run must come to an end at some point and Roland Garros could be that very place.