Jannik Sinner begins the French Open on Sunday as the clear favourite, carrying a run of form that has made him the man to beat at Roland Garros. The 24-year-old Italian world number one has lost only two of his 38 matches this season and arrives having won his past 29 matches.
The results are stark. One of Sinner's only defeats this year came against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, the other against Jakub Mensik in Doha. Since then he has been nearly unassailable, claiming the past six Masters tournaments and sweeping the clay-court Masters titles in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. Last week in Rome he beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
That sequence — 29 straight wins, three big clay titles and a string of Masters crowns — is why every headline this week puts Sinner at the centre of the draw. Djokovic, assessing the picture, suggested Sinner might be in the form of his life and that with Carlos Alcaraz absent, Sinner's chances of adding Grand Slam titles have grown; Djokovic also made clear that the rest of the field came to Paris determined to try to stop him.
Context sharpens the stakes. The men's game over the past two seasons has been defined by the rivalry between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz; between them they have won the past nine majors. Alcaraz is out of the French Open and also out of Wimbledon with a wrist injury, a double absence that reshapes the draw and leaves Sinner as the undisputed leader on paper. His sweep of Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome this year underlines why clay is now firmly his strongest territory.
Still, the story here is tension, not inevitability. Opponents point to the relentless detail in Sinner's game as the source of his dominance and the reason he is so hard to dislodge. Ruud, whom Sinner beat in Rome, said Sinner gives rivals no breathing room from any corner, forcing opponents into two-way fights and a constant need for precision. He noted that whether rallies run forehand or backhand, Sinner keeps the pace high and places the ball to make small errors costly, and that every return of serve and every groundstroke must be near perfect or he will be punished.
That combination — a nearly flawless streak, big clay titles and a heavy favourite's tag — raises the central question of this fortnight: can Sinner convert a season of dominance into more Grand Slam hardware now that Alcaraz is sidelined? Djokovic's assessment that Sinner may be at his peak, coupled with the reality that the Spaniard's absence increases Sinner's opportunities, offers a clear answer in degree: the ball will be in Sinner's court in every sense, and the tournament will be measured by how he responds to being the hunted.
On Sunday he walks onto court with 29 wins behind him and two losses this season — a simple ledger that explains why so many expect him to go deep. The French Open will test whether that ledger can become the next major chapter in his career, and whether the rest of the field can find the precision and patience Ruud says is required to beat him.
