Jannik Sinner has enjoyed a sensational start to his career and is well on track to retire with achievements that would rival the very best to ever play the sport.
Rafael Nadal is one such example of a player who, despite having won almost all there is to win within the sport, might see even his records shattered by this sensational Italian.
However, when that possibility has been mooted, the 22-time Grand Slam champion seems unbothered.
In fact, Nadal had nothing but praise for Jannik Sinner, speaking about the world number one ahead of a Roland Garros event where he will be the outstanding favourite.
Rafael Nadal praises Jannik Sinner’s dominance over men’s tennis
Speaking to Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, it should come as no surprise that Sinner was the focal point.
Asked to discuss his current level ahead of Roland Garros, Nadal was full of praise: “Jannik Sinner? It’s always hard to imagine such success and such consistency of results.
Do you think Rafael Nadal is the GOAT? 🐐
“What he’s doing is something very, very difficult; he has tremendous consistency. After Australia, he’s only lost once; he has an impressive streak of consecutive wins.
“I repeat, sustained success is something very complicated to achieve, so maximum admiration for what he does and how he does it.”
However, Nadal was also cautious to outline that such longstanding dominance is not guaranteed. He exercised caution, adding: “What could be his limit? Life. It will be life that decides what his ceiling will be.
“His personality, his motivation, his body, things that can’t be predicted in the future. And then we’ll see the rivals.
“At the moment, it seems he only has one, which is Carlos Alcaraz; the others are far off, and that mentally allows you to face everything with greater calm. Time will tell. I imagine other rivals will appear who will create difficulties for him; we’ll see.”
It’s also worth noting that, despite showcasing admiration, Nadal has outlined his wish for men’s tennis in the near future.
Is Jannik Sinner a bigger favourite at Roland Garros this year than Rafael Nadal ever was?
Given just how dominant Sinner has been over the past few months, and with Carlos Alcaraz having withdrawn from Roland Garros, it has raised the question over whether he might have made himself a bigger favourite for this second major of the season than Nadal ever was.
However, the conditions behind their respective positions as favourites are vastly different.
After all, the legendary Spaniard had earned that status over decades of domination on clay, winning nearly all of the matches he played on this surface.
Can anyone now stop Jannik Sinner from winning Roland Garros after Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal?
If yes, who?
And, in doing so, he completely dominated the French Open, losing just four matches across the 116 he played at the event.
The reason why he was always the favourite was because, regardless of who else was in the draw, they couldn’t beat him. Not Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray.
Sinner will be the overwhelming favourite this year, but only because Alcaraz is absent. That’s the crucial distinction between Nadal and Sinner at Roland Garros.
