Sinner: master and emperor

Where will it end? Jannik Sinner will arrive at Roland-Garros with unstoppable momentum, with the Parisian title – along with the Olympic Games – now the only major honours missing from an extraordinary résumé.

Competing in front of his home crowd in the Italian capital, he secured a sixth consecutive title, following earlier triumphs in the Rolex Paris Masters (late 2025), Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo and Madrid in 2026. That now brings him to 34 consecutive victories at Masters 1000 level, a feat no player has previously achieved, not even Novak Djokovic, who had stopped at only 31 wins in 2011.

The Italian has also become just the second player, once again after Djokovic, to complete the full set of Masters 1000 titles and he has done so at the age of 24 years and 274 days, compared to the Serbian, who reached that milestone at 31 years and 89 days in Cincinnati in 2018.

To crown it all, Sinner is the first player since Rafael Nadal in 2010 to complete the clay-court hat-trick (Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome) in the same season.

In the absence of his great rival Carlos Alcaraz, sidelined with a wrist injury, Sinner appears to be operating in a league of his own. After setting a new benchmark for consecutive wins in the category with his quarter-final victory over Andrey Rublev, he faced his only real challenge of the week in the semi-finals, dropping a set to Daniil Medvedev in a match played across two days, where he showed signs of physical strain before eventually prevailing 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

The following day, Sinner returned to peak form to defeat Casper Ruud for the fifth time in as many meetings, once again without conceding a set. Slightly tense early on and trailing 0-2, he quickly regained control and surged to victory after one hour and 44 minutes of play.

“It wasn’t a perfect match – there was quite a bit of tension on both sides – but I’m extremely happy with the result,” he told the world's media.

“For an Italian, there is no better place to play tennis, and no better place to complete this Masters 1000 collection. The past two-and-a-half months have been incredible for me. Physically, it hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve managed to give my best every time. I knew what was at stake today. It’s a very significant win for me.”

Ruud meanwhile seems to have rediscovered his best form at just the right moment ahead of Roland-Garros. The Norwegian has now reached the final of every major clay-court event.

Before falling to Sinner he had ended Italian hopes by outclassing an injured Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round 6-3, 6-1 before dominating surprise semi-finalist Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-1. The latter had lit up the tournament with wins over Alexander Zverev after saving four match points, and rising Spanish prospect Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals.

But in the end, as so often, the final word belonged to Sinner – more than ever the world No. 1 – whose first thought after victory was simple: “To rest, spend time with my family and switch off a bit before heading to Roland-Garros, probably on Thursday.”

Svitolina: a hat-trick built on resilience

While Sinner simply reinforced his status as the favourite for Paris, Elina Svitolina reshuffled the deck in the women’s draw by claiming her third title in the Italian capital, eight years after her back-to-back triumphs in 2017 and 2018.

At the end of an outstanding run, she defeated three of the world’s top four players – a first in the history of the Rome event – overcoming Elena Rybakina in the quarter-finals, Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals and Coco Gauff in the final 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2. Three winners of the last four Grand Slam titles, no less.

Seeded No. 7, the Ukrainian has built on an excellent start to the 2026 season to climb to No. 3 in the WTA Race, ideal timing ahead of Roland-Garros, where, in what will be her husband Gaël Monfils’ final appearance, she will have a genuine opportunity to capture the first Grand Slam title of her career at the age of 31. Following Marta Kostyuk’s title in Madrid, she has also underlined the current strength of Ukrainian women’s tennis.

Sharper than ever physically and aggressive in her play, Svitolina relied once again on her hallmark mental resilience to navigate an exceptionally tough draw. After saving 16 break points against Rybakina and 11 against Swiatek, she held off 14 of the 17 break points she faced in a gripping 2 hour and 49 minute final against Gauff.

“Every title has its own story, but this one is probably one of the toughest I’ve ever won,” said Svitolina, who claimed her 20th WTA singles trophy (including five at WTA 1000 level) and maintained her perfect record in clay-court finals - played eight, won eight. “I’m very proud of how I played, how I managed my emotions and how my body responded.”

Gauff can also take positives despite the defeat. The American had come through a demanding run of her own, saving a match point against compatriot Iva Jovic in the round of 16, before fighting back against Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, and then raising her level against surprise semi-finalist Sorana Cirstea.

At 36, and in what is her final season, the Romanian Cirstea delivered one of the standout performances of the tournament by knocking out world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, taking advantage of her opponent’s physical struggles. It was a rare early exit for Sabalenka, though one that does little to dent her status as the leading force in the women’s game ahead of Roland-Garros.

Conversely, Swiatek – who left Madrid in tears after retiring against Ann Li – will arrive in Paris with renewed confidence following her strong showing in Rome, where she produced high-quality tennis to dispatch Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 16 and Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 in the quarter-finals, before ultimately falling to Svitolina’s resilience, like everyone else.