World No. 1 Jannik Sinner returned to the red clay of Paris with absolute clinical intent, putting to bed any ghosts of his past heartbreaks. Launching his Roland Garros campaign under the lights on Tuesday night, the Italian superstar systematically dismantled French wild card Clement Tabur 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Barely putting a single foot wrong, Sinner executed a flawless performance to extend his career-best, historic winning streak to a staggering 30 consecutive matches.
The clinical victory carries immense emotional weight for the 24-year-old. Twelve months ago, Sinner suffered a devastating collapse on the very same court, squandering three championship points against Carlos Alcaraz in a grueling, five-set French Open final defeat. Any lingering psychological scar tissue was invisible on Tuesday, however, as Sinner controlled the baseline tempos with heavy, venomous groundstrokes, instantly solidifying his status as the absolute man to beat in the tournament’s draw.
The Golden Run: Jannik Sinner arrives in Paris on the back of an unprecedented, flawless hard-court and clay swing. He has swept all five ATP Masters 1000 titles earlier this season—conquering Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. His triumph in Rome officially made him the youngest player since Novak Djokovic to complete the prestigious Career Golden Masters.
A Historic Career Grand Slam Comes Into View
Should Sinner maintain his unstoppable momentum over the next fortnight, he stands on the precipice of sports immortality. The Italian is chasing a Career Grand Slam—a monumental milestone achieved by only six men in the entire history of the Open Era. He will next test his unbeaten streak against Argentina’s clay-court specialist Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who confidently booked his second-round spot by taking down Jacob Fearnley in straight sets earlier in the day.
Sabalenka and Gauff Cruise While Medvedev Stumbles
The opening round in Paris also saw high-octane action across the broader brackets. In the women’s singles draw, powerhouse Aryna Sabalenka braved scorching afternoon temperatures to charge into the second round, registering a comprehensive 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. Defending Roland Garros women’s champion Coco Gauff mirrored that dominance on the neighboring court, requiring less than an hour to cruise past her fellow American counterpart Taylor Townsend in a seamless 6-4, 6-0 statement performance.
The tournament’s first major seismic shockwave struck the men’s side of the bracket, as World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev suffered another premature, heartbreaking exit on the Parisian clay. The mercurial top seed collapsed in a grueling five-set marathon against spirited Australian wildcard Adam Walton, reminding field favorites of the surface’s unpredictable nature. Elsewhere, heavyweights Naomi Osaka, Emma Navarro, and Felix Auger-Aliassime all navigated their opening-round fixtures comfortably to secure their places in the next phase of the tournament.