Coincidence or not, in the midst of the suffocating heat present these days in Paris —the temperature reached 34 degrees—, Jannik Sinner was scheduled for his Roland Garros debut this Tuesday in the night session. He doesn’t usually like to play at night, but this time he benefited from it. His great rival for achieving his first Musketeers Cup is his physique. Its Achilles heel is extreme heat conditions.
It happened first in the 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinals with Daniil Medvedev; in the last two editions of the Australian Open and in the recent Rome tournament where the tremors in the hands returned.
Sinner had guest Clement Tabur in front of him, number 171 on the lists. The difference in ranking was evident from the first to the last hit. The first favorite in the draw, winner 6-1, 6-3 and 6-4, is launching towards achieving the Grand Slam that is missing from his record..
He is aware that he is facing his great opportunity with reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz absent due to his wrist injury and Novak Djokovic making the rubber at just turned 39 years old.
The Serbian has been scheduled for the third shift this Wednesday from the main track, when 32 degrees of temperature are expected.
Tabur executes a volley.
Figures that are on their way to records
Jannik has won 30 matches since he lost in the Doha quarterfinals and he is two victories away from Rafael Nadal’s mark. Ahead also remains the streaks of Djokovic (43), Roger Federer (41 and 35) and Thomas Muster (35). The tennis player who did not play well on clay is today just another earthling.
He slips, he makes drop shots, he changes heights in exchanges… There are already 18 wins since the clay tour began at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. In his seventh appearance on the slopes of the Bois de Boulogne, he once again passed the initial screening.
It wasn’t going to be Tabur who broke that positive statistic. The Frenchman won applause for every point he scored. There was little else he could do or offer. The price of admission was not worth it. Sinner’s superiority was so evident that they even tried to steal the occasional ball from him.
