Jannik Sinner was imperious once again tonight, as he brushed aside Andrey Rublev to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
In doing so, he has set up a blockbuster clash with Alexander Bublik after the Kazakhstani upset the number five seed, Jack Draper.
It was another illustrious performance from the Italian, with thunderous groundstrokes and scarily good serving levels failing to falter as the tournament goes on.
He is showing no signs of slowing down, and yet Mats Wilander still remained surprised by one thing he noticed.
Mats Wilander left surprised by Jannik Sinner tactic used vs Andrey Rublev
Speaking live on TNT Sports after Jannik Sinner’s latest comprehensive win, the three-time French Open champion was left somewhat surprised by what he’d seen.
And, whilst his shock was not related to the level of performance, Wilander still outlined an area of the Italian’s game that might need some altering in the near future.
He claimed: ‘When he returns serve normally you’d stand very straight, but now he’s standing with his left foot behind him to get more rhythm. I don’t quite understand it but for him, it works and he’s just started doing it he says.
‘I have a feeling on the grass this might be different as you have to stand closer on grass compared to the clay but if it works for him here he might stick with it. I would think that’s Jannik’s decision if he feels like he’s out of sync when he returns, now it’s working because he keeps doing it. It’s interesting because it’s very unusual.’
Can anybody stop Jannik Sinner from winning Roland Garros?
It really does look like there’s nobody in the tournament, or on the planet, who could beat Sinner on his current run of form.
After all, the 23-year-old has lost just a sole match since October.
Coincidentally, those two most recent losses both came against the same man, who is currently ploughing through the other half of the French Open draw: Carlos Alcaraz.
The Spaniard still boasts a narrow winning record over the current world number one, seven to four, and actually beat Sinner at this same event the year earlier.
Alexander Zverev expects Alcaraz to reach the French Open final with some ease too, further reinforcing his status as the only tangible threat.
However, the way in which the reigning US and Australian Open champion has improved since then is startling, arguably coming back from his three-month ban from the sport stronger than ever.
He is yet to drop a set in Paris, having brushed aside big names such as Jiri Lehecka and now Rublev.
Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic will fight for the chance to play Sinner in the semi-finals, should he beat Alexander Bublik, before Alcaraz is expected to pose the final hurdle.
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