Second seed begins return from injury with a comfortable victory
©Julien Crosnier / FFTSo far so good for Jannik Sinner’s problematic hip after his first-round victory over American Christopher Eubanks at Roland-Garros on Monday.
The Australian Open champion’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory was a perfect test to blow out some of the cobwebs and put his body through its paces in his first event back since Madrid.
Much like his great rival and friend, third seed Carlos Alcaraz, most of the chatter around Sinner on the eve of his fourth campaign circled back to whether he had recovered from the injury that kept him sidelined for three-and-a-half weeks.
In the Italian’s case it was a hip complaint that ruled him out ahead of the Madrid Masters quarter-finals and forced him to miss his home Masters 1000 in Rome.
First match test was complete but the hip was not quite back to full strength just yet.
“I said if I played a first-round match, I only play if the hip is 100 per cent,” Sinner said. “The hip seems good. I'm very happy about that. The general shape... is not where I want to be, but, you know, it takes time.
“I had a long period without practice also. So, you know, it's all normal. In my mind I know I will struggle, but in the other way, I'm happy to be here. Today was a good day for me.“
One small step for Sinner, one giant leap needed for Novak Djokovic.
The Italian kept the pressure for the No.1 ranking on the Serbian and in reaching the second round it kept him in the hunt to make it more difficult for his 37-year-old rival at the pointier end of the tournament.
Before Monday, Djokovic needed to reach at least the semi-finals to stand any chance of retaining top spot.
He now needs to at least reach the final, while Sinner would take matters into his own hands should he make a run to his second straight major final, even if he fell there to Djokovic.
In his first outing as a Grand Slam champion following his Melbourne Park heroics in January, Sinner was undeniably a more marked man than in previous majors when still in Alcaraz’s shadow and knocking on the door.
The 22-year-old was not dwelling on his big breakthrough though, which included back-to-back wins over 10-time champion Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.
The goal posts have shifted after that first major trophy Down Under, but he accepted it was no guarantee of further success.
“I’m obviously happy about what I have achieved in the last months this year, but our goal is to improve every day,” Sinner said. “That is for me more important. I know that I have to improve some things.
“Let’s see what I can achieve in the future and also being happy on the court, which is maybe the most important. I truly enjoy to play tennis so I’m very happy to be here.”
©Julien Crosnier / FFTThe scorecard reads as a routine two-hour, nine-minute effort on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and as far as first-round assignments go, it was just what Sinner had in mind after a brief hiatus.
The late-blooming Eubanks only made his main draw debut in Paris last year before a breakout Wimbledon in which he reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final a month later.
On clay, away from his preferred grass or hard courts, this was a huge ask, but he kept his opponent honest and brought up 10 break points across five games.
Sinner did well to fend off nine of them – two of them when serving for the match – before he secured a showdown against French veteran Richard Gasquet for a place in the third round.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
