The 2026 French Open Favorite Could Have the Most Historic Month of All-Time
Jannik Sinner has had an incredible run of it recently. The 2026 French Open favorite’s tournament showings since the Australian Open have been one of the better streaks a player has had after losing the semifinals of a Grand Slam, as Sinner did in Melbourne earlier this year. Since then, the 24-year-old has played in three Masters 1000 Tournaments and won each. This hasn’t been an easy road for Sinner either; he’s beaten some of the best players modern tennis has in its arsenal, like Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and even Carlos Alcaraz. He’s been ranked first in the world before, but after his win at the Australian Open, 2026 seemed like Alcaraz’s year. Turns out, it looks like it might be Sinner’s.
As of now, in his brief career, Sinner has spent 68 weeks ranked first in the world, putting him in the upper echelon of tennis players in the open era. This is often determined by how players perform at Grand Slams and Masters 1000 Tournaments. In a calendar year, there are four Grand Slams and nine different Masters 1000 Tournaments. For the very top tennis players, a rite of passage for them is to complete the career slam, winning a first-place title at all four Slams in a career. A more elusive achievement is the calendar slam, winning every Grand Slam in a year. No one has done this since Steffi Graf in 1988. The most elusive achievement of all, won by only one player in history, is the Career Golden Masters, accomplished by winning first-place titles at all nine Masters 1000 Tournaments. The only player to have done this is Novak Djokovic. In 2026, Sinner is on track to accomplish both a Career Slam and a Career Golden Masters in less than two months.
The 2026 French Open favorite has won all but two of the Masters 1000 Tournaments, missing the Italian Open and the Madrid Open, and all but one Grand Slam, Roland Garros. Sinner’s main competition was Alcaraz, the player who has shared the top ranking with the 24-year-old for the last couple of years. A few weeks ago, however, Alcaraz backed out of the Madrid, Rome, and French Opens due to injury. His other competitors for him would have been Djokovic and Zverev. With Djokovic also skipping Madrid and Rome, and Djokovic being able to consistently beat Zverev, Sinner’s pathway has become much clearer, and the French Open will be interesting. As of now, the Madrid Open is well underway, and Sinner is the favorite to win. Without some major fumbles, Sinner can definitely win the next three important tournaments and go down in history.
