Sinner deflects favourite tag and pays tribute to Alcaraz after Roland-Garros withdrawal
Jannik Sinner brushed aside questions about his Roland-Garros favouritism and paid a heartfelt tribute to an injured Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
Jannik Sinner, Madrid 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
The world No. 1 Jannik Sinner learned of his rival’s withdrawal for Roland-Garros during his post-match interview at the Madrid Mutua Open, on Friday. The news landed in a press conference that quickly shifted from a hard-fought win to the broader question hanging over the rest of the clay swing: with Alcaraz gone, is Sinner now simply the man to beat at Roland-Garros?
His answer was deliberate and, characteristically, non-committal. “I don’t think this is what we should be talking about right now”, Sinner answered. “We are in Madrid right now. I’m trying to go as far as possible here, and then we’ll talk about it in Paris.”
Throughout the press conference, Sinner returned to the same theme: focus on the process, not the prize. Asked whether the absence of direct confrontation with Alcaraz could cause him to unconsciously ease off, he was equally clear.
Sinner : “No extra pressure”
Sinner: “No, honestly, no. I don’t put extra pressure on myself. I think it’s important to train and to focus on my goals – that’s what has led me to success. Mentally, I know it’s hard to stay at 100% all the time, but I try, and we’ll see how far I can go.”
The point was underscored by the afternoon’s result itself. Against Bonzi – a qualifier ranked No. 104 who had already won three matches on Madrid’s notoriously fast, high-altitude clay – Sinner dropped the first set and visibly struggled before finding his footing.
“Today we saw that the moment you drop your level even slightly, everyone is there playing really excellent tennis,” he said. “The matches are very tough.”
If the deflection on the favourite question revealed a competitor unwilling to look ahead, his response to Alcaraz’s injury showed something else: a genuine warmth toward the man who has been his most compelling rival for the past two years.
“Tennis needs Carlos”
Sinner: “The most important thing to say, first of all, is that tennis needs Carlos. Tennis is better when he’s here. And even for me, it’s always cooler when he’s around. I believe he’ll come back stronger than before.”
He went further, addressing the specific concern around wrist injuries — an area where the sport has seen careers complicated.
Sinner: “Injuries are always complicated, especially to the wrist. There are parts of the body that are very sensitive. The risks we’ve seen with other players in the past can make things complicated. I hope he comes back healthy and doesn’t suffer any further injuries. I also think it’s a good thing that he and his team are taking their time. If you come back too early, you can end up with a more serious problem down the line. We all want him to be competitive when he returns. I wish him the best possible recovery, even though this is painful and very sad for the whole of tennis.”
Sinner captured his first clay-court Masters 1000 title just two weeks ago at Monte-Carlo, defeating Alcaraz 7-6(5), 6-3 in the final. The Monte-Carlo title made him only the second player in history, alongside Novak Djokovic in 2015, to win the first three Masters 1000 events of the season and placed him in the company of Djokovic and Nadal as the only men to win four consecutive titles at that level.
Roland-Garros, the one missing
Roland-Garros is the only Grand Slam title missing from Sinner’s collection, the one piece that would complete a career Grand Slam and place him alongside Alcaraz, who achieved that milestone at the Australian Open in January. His record in Paris has been building steadily – a quarter-final in 2022, a semi-final in 2024, and a final in 2025, where he led by two sets before Alcaraz saved three championship points in one of the longest finals in the tournament’s history.
Madrid is the one Masters event where he has never passed the quarter-finals. Next up is Danish qualifier Elmer Møller, ranked No. 169.
The French Open question, he insisted, can wait. “We are in Madrid right now,” he repeated, with the quiet patience of a man who knows the story will still be there when he arrives in Paris.
