Sinner vs Rinderknech: Things We Learned

Nothing all that different for No. 1

Sinner said in his pre-tournament press conference that he expected his return to Roland-Garros to be “different” in comparison to the ATP Masters 1000 event he played in Rome two weeks ago — his first tournament action in three months.

He was right to some extent: While well-respected by the fans, of course, he wasn’t the firm crowd favourite on Chatrier as he was throughout the week in his home tournament — and the added complexity of best-of-five sets versus best-of-three always presents a unique set of challenges.

But as far as the big picture of first-round matches at majors go, Monday night’s tilt stuck to the same script. The Italian improved his all-time record in the opening round of Grand Slam tournaments to 18-4 with the victory, having won his last 15 major openers since losing to Marton Fucsovics at Wimbledon in 2021.

That’s not to say that Rinderknech didn’t test Sinner, nor have his own personal highlights reel. The newly-married Frenchman came out firing — having declared ahead of the showdown that he wanted to enjoy the big-stage on his own home soil and “believe[d] in his chances,” perhaps as a result of having a clay-court win over Sinner back in 2021.

In the first set, Sinner saved three break points at 1-1, later breaking the dam of nine straight service holds in the opener’s final game.

Sinner didn't face a break point again until the second game of the third set, in which the Frenchman finally seized his sixth chance of the match to lead 2-0. He added another break to double his lead, and ultimately stretched the advantage to 5-2. But he never reached set point, and Sinner won the last five games.

“First-round matches, they are never easy, so I’m very happy with how I handled the situation, especially in the third set,” Sinner said afterwards.

“Coming through in straight sets means a lot. We’ve played each other a couple of times before, so we know each other a little bit; he’s an amazing player.

“I was just trying to focus on my side… He played very, very well in the third set; the first break was very important, because 5-0 it’s nearly impossible to come back. I tried to gain confidence again; he made a couple of mistakes when he was serving for the set, so that gave me a little help. [I was] just trying to have a good mindset, the right attitude on court, and I’m very happy with how I did that.”

Sinner is stingy with signature wins

If you’re an underdog hoping to upset Sinner at any tournament, it’s no secret that you need to come up with something special. But the numbers support it, too.

The Italian has now won his last 62 matches against players ranked outside the top 20 since losing to then-No.66 Dusan Lajovic at the 2023 Cincinnati Open (on his 22nd birthday).

Major magic is elevating him further

Sinner has now also won 15 consecutive matches at Grand Slam tournaments, having triumphed at the Australian Open in January and at the US Open last summer.

The three-time Grand Slam champion already occupies rarified air on the circuit, but this run is elevating him even further on the pantheon of men’s tennis. He is the fifth player in the last 20 years to win 15 or more matches in a row at majors, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

‘Very special’ second round match

Another Frenchman awaits Sinner — a man whom he faced in the second round of last year’s Roland Garros. But the 2025 reprise against Richard Gasquet, the top seed confessed, will be “very special”.

Gasquet, 38, is playing the last tournament of his career at this Roland-Garros, and will be hoping to capture some magic of his own before riding off into retirement.

“It doesn’t get any better,” Sinner said. “I’m very happy to be in this position, I know where he is… he gave so much to our sport, he gave so much to you all, he’s a player you watched for years and years, and me too.

“I’m very happy to share the court with him; hopefully, it’s going to be a good match, which is the most important.”