Jannik Sinner made his highly anticipated return to tennis in Rome and immediately reminded fans of why he is the world number one.
The three-time Major champion returned from his three-month suspension at the Italian Open, securing several impressive wins.
Mariano Navone, Jesper De Jong, and Francisco Cerundolo were all beaten before the Italian produced one of the best performances of his career in the quarterfinals.
Showing no signs of rust, Sinner dominated Casper Ruud, 6-0, 6-1 on Stadio Centrale, to book his place in the semi-finals, where he beat Tommy Paul in three sets.
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Winning a title in his first tournament back would have been the perfect end to the story, but it wasn’t to be as Sinner lost to Carlos Alcaraz, 6-7, 1-6.
Sinner’s countryman and fellow Grand Slam champion has now shared his thoughts on why the 23-year-old’s level dipped after the first set of the final.
Nicola Pietrangeli says Jannik Sinner’s lack of match practice cost him against Carlos Alcaraz
Appearing as a guest on Italian radio show Rai 3, two-time French Open champion Nicola Pietrangeli gave his verdict on Sinner’s performance in Rome.
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“Losing a final against [Carlos] Alcaraz is not that bad,” he said.
“In the sense that training is one thing and the match is another. It’s not that he lost in the first round but in the final, after playing a perfect first set in which he also had two set points.
“Afterwards, the absence from the match for three months obviously weighed on him, but that’s normal.
“Losing against a player more or less his level is fine.”
The 91-year-old then looked ahead to Roland Garros, and said what he would do if he ‘knew’ Sinner would win.
“Roland Garros? If I knew he’d win, I’d go to the box office to bet,” he said.
Jannik Sinner looks to join Nicola Pietrangeli on list of Italian champions at the French Open
Since the French Open became a Grand Slam event in 1946, just two Italian men have won the title.
- 1959 French Open – Won by Nicola Pietrangeli
- 1960 French Open – Won by Nicola Pietrangeli
- 1976 French Open – Won by Adriano Panatta
66 years ago, Pietrangeli became the first Italian player to win a Major title when he lifted the trophy in Paris.
He did so dropping just two sets all tournament, proving his class on the Parisian clay.
Nicola Pietrangeli’s 1959 French Open title run
Pietrangeli defended his title in 1960, before reaching two further finals (1961 and 1964) coming up short on both occasions.
Italy had to wait 16 years for a third title at Roland Garros, which was provided by Adriano Panatta, who became the nation’s first Grand Slam winner of the Open Era in 1976.
Panatta was unable to defend his title as Pietrangeli had before him, and so began a 49-year wait for the next Italian men’s singles champion at Roland Garros.
Many are hoping Sinner can end the drought in 2025, as he heads to Paris as the number one seed.
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Sinner reached the semi-finals of last year’s French Open, narrowly losing out to rival Alcaraz in a five-set thriller on Court Phillipe Chatrier.
He’ll be hoping to go all the way this time around, but hasn’t been done any favors by the draw, which has seen him placed in the same half of the bracket as Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic.
Jannik Sinner’s potential path to the Roland Garros title
- F – Carlos Alcaraz
- SF – Alexander Zverev/Novak Djokovic
- QF – Jack Draper/Alex de Minaur
- 4R – Andrey Rublev/Arthur Fils
- 3R – Jiri Lehecka/Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
- 2R – Terence Atmane/Richard Gasquet
- 1R – Arthur Rinderknech
Fans are already looking ahead to the dream final between Sinner and Alcaraz but the Italian will be wary of getting too far ahead of himself, as he first focuses on his first round match.
Sinner will take on home favorite Arthur Rinderknech in the first round of the French Open when the tournament begins on Sunday, May 25.