Jannik Sinner is looking to make history at the Italian Open, where he can win the Career Golden Masters.
Sinner has won five consecutive ATP Masters events, and can complete the set of nine in Rome, where he will be the overwhelming favourite.
Can anyone stop Jannik Sinner at the Italian Open?
If so, who?
The Italian has been incredibly dominant on the ATP Tour, having not lost a match since his quarterfinal exit at the Qatar Open.
Many have branded the duopoly of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in men’s tennis as ‘boring’, but former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski completely disagrees.
Greg Rusedski discusses Jannik Sinner’s dominance on the tour
Speaking on ‘Off Court with Greg‘, Rusedski said: “Some people are talking about Sinner’s dominance, but some people are saying, is this bad for the game?
“You know, there’s a lot of people on social media or on podcasts talking about it. I think it’s quite incredible what he’s doing.
“I mean, five Masters Series in a row for this year, hasn’t dropped barely any sets in them, winning them and now coming to Rome to complete the set of nine.
“So personally, I love to see what he’s doing. He’s just playing big-time tennis and he starts up tomorrow and it is gonna be loud when he steps on court.
How long will Jannik Sinner stay as world number one?
Sinner will begin his third reign after winning the Monte Carlo Masters…
“For Sascha [Zverev], the problem is he doesn’t know what he has to do against Sinner because if you go in every category, Sinner is just slightly better in every category and Zverev’s gonna have to do something he’s not comfortable doing like serving and volleying, taking the ball early and that’s where he’s gonna sit down with his team and figure it out because he’s been very good.
“Everybody’s saying, ‘Oh Sinner should win this. Oh, he should win that.’ It’s not easy to do. Novak’s in here this year as well.
“He’s looking good in practice, practicing with Arthur Fils as well and Fils looks good this week. So Fils, Djokovic, Ben Shelton, guys like that, you want to see can they push Sinner.
“Who’s gonna answer the bell because there’s always an upset and there’s always one day you have an average match, but you got to find a way through.”
Jannik Sinner’s campaign at the Italian Open last year
Sinner will be looking to go one step further at the Italian Open this year after making the final of the tournament in 2025.
Following his three-month suspension last year, Sinner returned to action at the 2025 tournament and showed no signs of rust.
Sinner dropped just one set en route to the championship match, which he conceded in the semifinals against Tommy Paul.
However, he could not find an answer for his rival, Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in straight sets to hoist the trophy.
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