Paris, May 27: Jannik Sinner won his first-round match at the French Open on Monday night. He beat France’s Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.This win stretches Sinner’s Grand Slam winning streak to 15 matches. He won the last five games of the match to finish strong.
Sinner is ranked No. 1 in the world. This is only his second tournament after a three-month doping ban. The ban was announced soon after he won the Australian Open in January.
The 23-year-old Italian has won three Grand Slam titles, all on hard courts. His best performance at the French Open was reaching the semifinals last year.
Sinner has now won 62 matches in a row against players ranked outside the top 20 joing Nadal in the list.
Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his French Open campaign with a commanding straight-sets victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri on Monday.
The Spaniard struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over world number 310 Zeppieri and will face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two.
Alcaraz is the title favourite at Roland Garros after winning both the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open trophies this year on clay.
The four-time Grand Slam champion saved all three break points he faced against Zeppieri on Court Suzanne Lenglen as he cruised through in second gear.
Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also won Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic.