Sunday 7 June. The date marked on the calendar of Jannik Sinner and his team is that, that is, the day of the final of the next Roland Garros. As a good strategist he will never say it. Indeed, already yesterday in the post-triumph press conference in Monte Carlo, he indicated London as the most important moment of the season. But it’s half a lie: Wimbledon is still Wimbledon, however, it’s the Musketeers Cup that the blue wants to take home in 2026. The very one that narrowly escaped him last year, with those three consecutive match points not materializing in a final that had been practically perfect up until now.

This is why the first great success on clay of his career represents only a stage for Jannik. Very important because it brings him back to world number 1 (even if by winning in Barcelona Alcaraz can take back his seat), indicative of the fact that his growth path continues unabated, and comforting because it demonstrates, once again, that clay is also his home and not just the Spaniard’s, but still a stage.

However, the weight of the title won in the Principality remains considerable. Making the Indian Wells-Miami pairing and then winning the first 1000 on clay in Europe is a feat achieved in history only by Novak Djokovic in one of his greatest seasons, 2015, when he won three Slams out of four for a total of 11 titles in 12 months.

Clear path

Sinner’s monstrous numbers don’t end here. There are now 4 Masters 1000 won consecutively (Paris 2025 must also be counted), for a total of 22 victories (21 in two sets) of which 8 against top ten. Only Djokovic (on three occasions, in ’15-’16, ’14-’15 and ’13-’14) and Nadal (2013) had previously won at least four Masters 1000s one after the other.

A success, we were saying, which allows Jannik to reach 67 weeks as number 1 (five behind Stefan Edberg) and 27 titles on the ATP circuit, one more than Alcaraz.

At 24, there are very few “holes” in his palmares, yet they are almost all red: Madrid and Rome at Masters 1000 level, and Roland Garros to complete the Career Grand Slam. There are still many doubts about his participation in the next Madrid Masters. Trying to go all the way both in Spain and at the Italian Internationals would mean showing up at the Bois de Boulogne, not in reserve, but with the risk of having limited energy and not enough to overcome unexpected obstacles.

It is no coincidence, in fact, that of all nine Masters 1000s, the one in Madrid is the one in which Jannik played the least (only three participations) and achieved the worst results (best placing the quarter-finals in 2024).

Making strong decisions today to be stronger tomorrow has always been one of the leitmotifs of his career, which is why not seeing him in Madrid would not surprise us.

Now Jannik drives

In football we are used to thinking that it is always the last result that forms opinions and dictates sentences. A gross mistake, to always be avoided, especially when talking about tennis. Jannik’s defeat in Australia against an excellent Djokovic had made most people turn up their noses, the subsequent knockout at the hands of Mensik in Doha had brought back old beliefs: Alcaraz is stronger, Carlitos is more talented.

Given that work will always beat “only” talent 6-0/6-0, two months after the Italian’s premature exit from the scene in Qatar, the sentiment on the two dominators of world tennis has reversed, but in fact nothing has changed.

In the last 21 tournaments played by Sinner and Alcaraz, the title has always ended up in the hands of one of the two. The truth is that the two have been on the run for at least two seasons and that there is a void behind them. Regardless of form or injuries, their matches are balanced, each set is decided by a handful of points, and even the surfaces play an overall marginal role. Carlitos will always seem more at ease on clay, Jannik on indoor hard courts, while on grass and outdoor hard courts the differences are minimal, but ultimately there is no terrain that clearly favors one of the two.

Confidence and mental aspect will always have an important specific weight. It is enough to look back at Alcaraz’s expression in the Monte Carlo final to realize this. He had the same frustration shown on his face during the final act of Wimbledon 2025.

The Slams are another sport, the epic and quicksand of three sets out of five represent the most difficult challenge, yet their 17th direct clash made an impression on both Sinner and the Murcian.

More than the 3350 points in the standings recovered in just 68 days by Jannik or the title that eluded him in the Principality, Alcaraz could not digest that feeling of impotence in the baseline exchanges against our champion. Without the dialectical excesses shown in the defeat against Korda in Miami, the Spaniard confirmed his difficulty in asserting himself when the day – or the conditions – do not support him. If he is in “the zone” he risks being unplayable for everyone, but when the magic wand of his infinite talent gets stuck he sometimes crashes and becomes a less invulnerable player.

Well, this is perhaps the aspect in which Sinner is really ahead of Carlitos. The ability to express 100% of what you have that day, even if you are not perfect, even if the first serve doesn’t want to come in (as in the first set, only to then serve only first serves in the tie-break!).

The road to Paris and Philippe Chatrier is still long, the stages of Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Rome will provide new evidence, yet the last month played by Sinner rhymes with Slam.