Jannik Sinner‘s season just keeps on getting better and better. He has already captured five titles so far and all of these triumphs have come at Masters events. He just became the first Italian to win the Rome Masters title in 50 years and has also made up a massive 2,740-point gap over his rival, Carlos Alcaraz on the rankings. The 24-year-old was dominant over his opponents in almost all the matches he played in Rome. However, there was one match where he was pushed to the limit.

Sinner’s semifinal clash against Daniil Medvedev proved to be one of the best matches of the tournament. This was the only match in the competition that Sinner lost a set as he recorded a hard-fought 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory. Seeing the Russian’s performance, former ATP Pro Guido Monaco believes that he is only one who can challenge Sinner for the French Open title in Alcaraz’s absence.

“Sinner tries to dismantle his opponents in the first games: it works with Zverev, but not with Medvedev, because Medvedev doesn’t give up. When Sinner began to struggle against Medvedev, an hour had already passed: he suddenly began to suffer from the longer rallies. I noticed that he had 5 similar minutes against Rublev: Sinner makes his poker against one of his best qualities, but he can’t hide if he’s in physical pain,” Monaco said.

While Sinner was suffering from various health issues during the match, the effort that Medvedev put in was brilliant. He gave a very tough fight to the crowd-favorite and was the only player who came close to defeating the Italian in the tournament. Monaco noted this and said that Medvedev has improved his game as of recent and now puts in much better efforts than before.

“I think Medvedev, given what he showed in Indian Wells and in Rome against Sinner, is the only one who can stand up to him, especially if the match drags on. He’s a Medvedev who has evolved; he’s changed his skin compared to before: he returns a lot of balls from a more advanced position. Given the effort he puts in and the way tennis is evolving, I would bet on Roland‐Garros, which is the real goal of this clay court season,” he added.

Notably, Medvedev had also met Sinner in the final of the Indian Wells Open earlier this year. While the latter had won the match 7-6, 7-6, he didn’t find things easy by any means. Medvedev held his serve throughout the one hour and 55-minute clash, not allowing Sinner to get a foothold of the final. The World No. 9 had also brought an end to Alcaraz’s 22-match winning streak in the semis and had triumphed 6-3, 7-6.

While Medvedev can give Sinner a tough time if the two get drawn against each other at the French Open, the Italian will definitely be the favorite to win the clash. He currently leads the H2H record by 10-7 and has now won his previous five encounters against Medvedev. The Russian’s last win in the matchup had come at the 2024 Wimbledon when he had triumphed in five sets in the quarterfinals.

With the main draw of the French Open being barely a week away, both Sinner and Medvedev will be aiming to fully recover from the fatigue caused in Rome. The World No. 1 has even confirmed that he won’t be training much in the coming days.

Jannik Sinner highlights his main priority ahead of the French Open

“Yeah, no, the main priority is to recover as much as I can in the next two, three days. There is not going to be a lot of training, for sure. Tennis, zero. Physically, we need to see. I want to be a little bit with my family, as well, in this moment. Switching off on tennis, then from Thursday on, I think I will be there in Paris. Prepare, and we’ll see how it goes. Yeah, look, now it’s important to rest,” he said, speaking to the Italian media.

The 24-year-old has been constantly playing since the Indian Wells Open in March. It is clear that he needs to recover physically and recharge himself before heading to Paris and that is why he isn’t in a mood to train much either.

As he heads into the Roland Garros, Sinner has an opportunity to achieve a feat that only Rafael Nadal has accomplished in the sport. Having become just the second player after Novak Djokovic to complete the Career Golden Masters with his triumph in Rome, Sinner can now also become the second player after Nadal to win all the big clay-court titles, including the three Masters 1000 events, and French Open.

Having lost an epic final against Alcaraz last year, Sinner will be aiming to finally end his wait for a French Open title this time around. Will the Italian go on to lift his fifth Grand Slam title, or will his 29-match winning streak come to an end in the tournament? Let us know your predictions in the comments!