Jannik Sinner has now found out his potential route to the Roland Garros title.
Sinner, who was defeated in the legendary 2025 final, is the strong favourite to win his first title in Paris following the withdrawal of injury-plagued Carlos Alcaraz.
If the Italian does win his first title in the French capital, he will become only the seventh man in the Open Era to complete the ‘Career Grand Slam’: winning all four Grand Slam events.
Which player is most likely to stop Jannik Sinner from winning the French Open? 🤔
The only other male players to achieve the feat since 1968 are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Andre Agassi and Rod Laver.
Sinner’s hopes of claiming a first title in Paris have most certainly been boosted after receiving a positive draw on Thursday afternoon.
With that being said, how does Sinner’s draw compare to the one he received last year?
Comparing Jannik Sinner’s 2026 French Open draw to 2025
Jannik Sinner began his 2025 French Open campaign by defeating two Frenchmen in straight sets: Arthur Rinderknech and the retiring Richard Gasquet.
Sinner then continued his dominance against Jiri Lehecka, defeating the Czech star 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.
The Italian wasted little time advancing to the semi-finals, comfortably defeating Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik in straight sets.
Novak Djokovic – a three-time champion in Paris – awaited Sinner in the semi-finals.
Despite Djokovic’s valiant effort, he was ultimately defeated 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Jannik Sinner’s 2025 French Open campaign
- Round One: defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-3, 7-5
- Round Two: defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
- Round Three: defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-0, 6-2, 6-2
- Round Four: defeated Andrey Rublev 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
- Quarter-finals: defeated Alexander Bublik 6-1, 7-5, 6-0
- Semi-finals: defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 7-6
- Final: lost to Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6
Sinner faced his great rival, Carlos Alcaraz, in the Parisian championship showpiece.
The Italian looked set to win the title when he engineered three championship point opportunities in the fourth set.
However, Alcaraz went on to produce one of the best comebacks in tennis history, defeating Sinner 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6.
This year, Sinner will begin his French Open campaign against qualifier Clement Tabur.
If Sinner advances past the French player, he will play Juan Manuel Cerundolo or Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in the second round.
From there, Sinner is projected to face Corentin Moutet in the third round, Luciano Darderi in the fourth round, and Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.
Should Sinner advance further, he is likely to face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals and Alexander Zverev or Novak Djokovic in the final.
When does Jannik Sinner next lose a tennis match? 👀
How did Jannik Sinner react after losing the 2025 Roland Garros final?
After losing the 2025 French Open final, Sinner played down any concerns regarding his physical fitness, and his record in long, drawn-out matches.
“No, you cannot compare this match with other matches, I believe,” Sinner told reporters during his post-match press conference.
“Physically I was quite fine. Of course, tired. He was tired too, you know, because it was physical match. It was mental match. What can you do?
“ou know, now knowing the result, it is what it is, you know? You can’t really change it.
“I’m still happy to be part of this match. You know, I think it was a very, very high-level match, was long. Yeah, and it happens. You know, we saw it in the past with other players, and today it happened to me.
“So we try to delete it somehow and take the positive and keep going. There are no other ways.”
Sinner bounced back incredibly from the excruciating loss. A month later, the Italian lifted his first Wimbledon title after defeating Alcaraz in the final.
