World No. 1 Jannik Sinner made a strong start to his French Open campaign in Paris, defeating France’s Arthur Rinderknech in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 on Monday night to advance to the second round. With this win, the Italian star extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 15 matches.
This is Sinner’s first Grand Slam appearance since winning the Australian Open earlier this year. He also captured the US Open title last year. However, all of his Grand Slam victories so far have come on hard courts. The French Open, played on clay, remains the only major where he is yet to claim the title. Last year, he was stopped in the semifinals by Carlos Alcaraz.
Although his win over Rinderknech came with relative ease, Sinner’s next challenge will be against another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet. Now 38 years old and ranked 160 in the world, Gasquet was once as high as World No. 7. While his prime years are behind him, he remains a respected veteran.
Sinner acknowledged that the home crowd would be backing Gasquet, smiling as he said after the match, “I know you’ll support him. That’s okay.”
Currently considered one of the top favorites to win the tournament, all eyes will be on Sinner to see if he can carry his dominance to the clay courts of Roland Garros.
