Imperious Jannik Sinner brings Nadal-like aura to Roland-Garros

It appears to be folly to compare French Open men’s top seed Jannik Sinner to Rafa Nadal in respect of anything related to the French Open. The great Spaniard won the men’s singles title 14 times at Roland-Garros. Sinner has been in one final – losing an epic five-set battle to Carlos Alcaraz last year.

But it’s not about Sinner’s previous accomplishments at the tournament. Instead, it’s to do with his current dominance of the sport.

In Nadal’s prime (and perhaps even not in his prime), no one bet against him on the red clay of Paris. In 2026, no one will bet against Sinner winning his maiden French Open to complete the career Grand Slam.

This is where the comparison comes in. Sinner carries the same Nadal aura into Roland-Garros in 2026. No player, even the Big Three (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Nadal) dominated the sport in the same way Sinner has for the past six months. His numbers are incredible and might be even better (as this was written before the Italian Open’s conclusion) by the time the French Open’s first round starts on 24 May.

Admirable run

After losing against Djokovic in the semi­finals of the Australian Open in January, and then to Jakub Menšík in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in Doha, Sinner has been on a tear. He has won four consecutive tournaments in 2026, and they have all been ATP Masters 1000 titles. That’s the highest rung below the four Grand Slams.

Sinner became the first player in series history (since 1990) to win five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles. He completed the feat at the Madrid Open on 3 May, when he defeated Alexander Zverev in the final. It lasted 58 minutes, which was the shortest final in Masters 1000 history. Sinner also won 93% of his points off his first serve.

Since he was forced to retire during his third-round clash in Shanghai in October 2025, Sinner has lifted Masters 1000 titles in Paris (hard court, 2025), and in 2026 at Indian Wells (hard court), Miami (hard court), Monte-Carlo (clay) and Madrid (clay).

The 24-year-old did not drop a set at the three hard-court events, but Tomáš Macháč eventually ended his record-setting streak at 37 straight sets won, in the Monte-Carlo third round.

Sinner was dominant throughout his run in Madrid, where he lifted the trophy for the first time.

The Italian was the first player to win the “Sunshine Double” – trophies in Indian Wells and Miami – without dropping a set. He then defeated Alcaraz in the final at Monte-Carlo in April, using the victory to return to No 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time since November.

Sinner is also the first player in history to win the first four Masters 1000 titles of a season. And in his five Masters 1000 wins since ­Paris last year, he has dropped only two sets.

Also, wedged into the run of five Masters 1000 titles, Sinner claimed the season-ending ATP Finals title in Turin last November, which features the top eight players on the rankings. He also didn’t drop a set against the world’s best players.

Victory in the round of 16 at the Italian Open earlier this week saw Sinner extend his Masters 1000 winning streak to 31 matches, equalling Djokovic’s all-time record. If he goes on to claim the Rome title, he will join Djokovic as the only men to have won all nine Masters 1000 events.

Another crazy statistic is that since winning the Australian Open in 2024, only Alcaraz has beaten him more than once. And Alcaraz, who won that epic 2025 final at Roland-Garros, is out of this year’s French Open with a wrist injury.

Is Sinner unbeatable?

Sinner will take some stopping in Paris. In fact, without Alcaraz in the draw, it’s difficult to see how he will be beaten unless he is struck down by injury or illness.

He was gracious about his rival’s withdrawal. Speaking in Madrid, he said: “It’s sad news for all of us. Me being a competitor, you want to play against the best players in the world, and he’s definitely the best player on this surface.”

World No 3 Zverev is excellent on clay, but he has lost his last five clashes with Sinner and carries so much scar tissue he might never recover. Zverev made four consecutive Roland-Garros semifinals (2021 to 2024) and reached the final in 2024. At 29, though, the pressure to convert his clay court ­pedigree into a maiden Grand Slam title has never been greater.

Djokovic has beaten Sinner this year, but it’s unlikely he can take the Italian down over five sets on clay. Last year, Sinner dismantled Djokovic in the semifinals at Roland-Garros with such brutal efficiency that the great Serb came close to conceding that his years as a major winner were over.

“I felt constantly under pressure, and he didn’t allow me to... have time to swing through the ball,” Djokovic said after the semifinal. “He was just constantly on the line, trying to make me defend.”

The scary aspect is that Sinner is an even better player now than he was a year ago when he took Djokovic apart.

Casper Ruud, a two-time finalist at Roland-Garros, is showing good clay court form, but it’s hard to imagine he can win three sets against Sinner. Heck, it’s hard to imagine anyone can win three sets in a match against him.

Strike threats

Outside of injury and illness, will Sinner be distracted by the ongoing money row relating to the French Open?

Roland-Garros organisers announced a 10% rise in prize money for the 2026 edition to €61.7-million, with singles champions set to earn €2.8-million. But leading players, including Sinner, women’s No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, issued a joint statement expressing deep disappointment – not at the absolute increase, but at the players’ declining share of tournament revenue.

Although the tournament is expected to generate more than €400-million in revenue, players argue that their percentage cut has slipped from 15.5% in 2024 to about 14.9% in 2026, which is well below the 22% they receive at combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events, and far short of the roughly 50% revenue share enjoyed by players in the National Basketball Association and National Football League.

“It’s more about respect, you know? Because I think we give much more than we are getting back,” Sinner told reporters before the Italian Open in Rome.

“It’s not only for the top players, it’s for all of us players – of course we talk about money. The most important is respect, and we just don’t feel it.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.