ATP French Open Grand Slam
Sinner’s Clay Ascendancy: Training, Setbacks and the Road to Roland Garros
Sinner’s clay breakthrough came through relentless training, a 2025 suspension and focused work now
On the opening day of Roland Garros the image that captured attention was simple: Jannik Sinner practicing in a plain white T-shirt that read, “Winning Starts With Training.” The message, literal and unadorned, is also the throughline of Sinner’s recent evolution on clay.
The world No. 1 arrives at Roland Garros this year seeking his first title at the event. Earlier this spring, when he won the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Sinner joined Rafael Nadal as the only player to have swept all three spring Masters 1000 titles. That achievement sits alongside a career that once produced only sporadic clay success.
Sinner’s first clay title came at an M25 in early 2019 at Santa Margherita Di Pula when he was ranked No. 322. His next clay triumph would not arrive until the ATP 250 in Umag three years later, where the beaten finalist was a young Carlos Alcaraz. Between those milestones and this season, clay proved a mixed arena: losses to Holger Rune (Monte Carlo, semifinals), Franciso Cerundolo (Rome, fourth round) and Daniel Altmaier (Roland Garros, second round) were followed by 2024 setbacks to Stefanos Tsitsipas (Monte Carlo semifinals), a hip injury that forced a Madrid walkover to Felix Auger-Aliassime, and defeat by Alcaraz in the Roland Garros semifinals.
A doping suspension interrupted the 2025 clay season and cost Sinner live match time, but it also became an unintended reset. He used the break to focus on clay-specific work and returned in Rome, where he reached the final before losing to Alcaraz. “It was my first big final on clay,” he said. “We worked a lot for that.”
Sinner has described the gap as a loss of match “feedback”: “I didn’t know exactly how I was playing, if the shots were on the right pace or not, if I’m moving well or not, many things,” he said. The team compared early Monte Carlo data with Rome performances to get “a big picture” template for improvement. As he put it in Monte Carlo this year, “I never won anything big on this surface. So, I’m looking forward to it, trying to put myself in the position hopefully, and then we’ll see.”
Training, coach Simone Vagnozzi and a willingness to leave comfort zones have reshaped Sinner’s clay game. “I take my confidence from training, not tournaments.” He has been candid about the work: “You arrive to a point when you play against Carlos where you have to go out of your comfort zone. So I’m going to aim to, you know, [do that]. . Maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, you know, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player.” Off court he acknowledges perception: “I feel like the fans don’t know how I am as a person [because] I’m very serious on the court.” After his Rome breakthrough he reflected, “I cannot compare this to any other tournament,” he said. “There is here that extra pressure, extra hunger and the feeling [desire] to play the best possible tennis. The whole tournament was very challenging, but also so beautiful at the same time. So I just love this tournament. It has so much more history [for Italians] than the ATP Finals in Turin,” an event Sinner also won on home soil.
ATP
Sinner’s serve numbers reveal a mixed picture despite his dominance
Sinner’s serve stats show elite power, but his first-serve percentage still leaves room for growth.
Jannik Sinner’s serve has long been viewed as a major part of his rise to the top of the men’s game, yet the numbers from the past year tell a more complicated story.
The world No 1 adjusted his service motion shortly before he began establishing himself as a leading force on the ATP Tour, and that weapon stood out again when he defended his Wimbledon title earlier this month.
After losing the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz last September, Sinner made it clear that he wanted more variety and consistency on serve. His own words at the time showed how deliberate that change was:
“I can say that I’m gonna become a better tennis player and I’m gonna change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but, they can make big differences and then we see how it goes,” said Sinner. after that defeat against Alcaraz in New York.
“I’m looking forward to play these matches again, something new is now that I’m not No 1 anymore. Now you chase, it’s different.
“Maybe I will lose some matches from now on, but I will try to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”
Even with his strong recent run, the ATP Tour figures for the last 12 months show that there is still work to be done in one area. Sinner ranks 35th in first serve percentage at 63.8%, well behind Alexander Zverev, who leads the list at 72.5%.
The Italian, however, is far more dominant once the first serve lands. He leads the tour in service points won at 80.9%, just ahead of Reilly Opelka on 80.8% and Taylor Fritz on 79.7%.
He also tops service games won at 92.9%, underlining how difficult he is to break. Opelka follows on 90.6%, with Ben Shelton third at 90.4% and Alcaraz at 89.9%.
One remaining area is ace production. Sinner is 27th in that category with an average of 8.2 per match, while Opelka leads with 18.5, followed by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on 15.1 and Fritz on 14.1.
ATP
Sinner climbs to No 4 on all-time prize money list after Wimbledon defence
Sinner’s Wimbledon defence lifts him to No 4 on the all-time prize money list in 2026.
Jannik Sinner’s successful Wimbledon title defence brought more than another major trophy. It also lifted the Italian to No 4 on the all-time career prize money list.
Before Wimbledon 2026, Sinner sat at No 6, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer occupying the top three spots and Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz positioned above him. Zverev had recently passed both Alcaraz and Sinner after his French Open run, but the order shifted again once Sinner collected $4,830,756 (£3,600,000) for his latest Wimbledon triumph.
That result leaves Sinner close to becoming only the fourth player to move beyond $70m in career prize money. He has already earned $11,620,364 in 2026 and is on track to break the $20m barrier for the first time in a season.
His rise has been rapid. Last year, he took in $19,120,641, a total that included a record $5,071,000 for winning the ATP Finals undefeated. He finished second on the 2025 earnings list behind Alcaraz, who made $21,354,778, after leading the way in 2024 with $19,735,703.
At the end of the 2024 season, Sinner stood on $37,238,688. Since the start of the 2025 campaign, he has added another $32,347,873. From just $36 in prize money in his first professional year, he now sits on $69,586,561.
Zverev is fifth with $68,392,312, while Alcaraz is on $64,997,598 after not adding to his tally since April because of injury. Andy Murray has fallen to No 7 on $64,687,542, with Daniil Medvedev eighth on $52,192,594. Djokovic, Sinner, Zverev, Alcaraz and Medvedev are the only active players to have passed $40m.
Djokovic remains far ahead in first place with $194,656,816, including $3,000,801 earned in 2026. Nadal is second on $134,946,100 and Federer third on $130,594,339.
ATP French Open Grand Slam
Auger-Aliassime Reaches Career-High No. 4 After Breakthrough at Roland Garros
Auger-Aliassime rises to No. 4 after best Roland Garros run, tying second-highest Canadian rank. Now
Felix Auger-Aliassime moved to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP rankings following his deepest run at Roland Garros, where the 25-year-old reached the quarterfinals for the first time before losing to eventual finalist Flavio Cobolli. The result completed a personal Grand Slam milestone: having previously reached the quarterfinals or better at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, he became the first Canadian man to reach the quarterfinals or better at all four majors in his career.
The rise from No. 6 to No. 4 surpasses his prior best of No. 5 and places him tied for the second-highest-ranked Canadian in ATP or WTA rankings history. The only other Canadians to reach the top four are Milos Raonic and Bianca Andreescu. Raonic went as high as No. 3 in 2016, following his run to the Wimbledon final that year, and Andreescu peaked at No. 4 in 2019 after winning the US Open.
Canadian tennis has seen seven players reach the top 10 in either ATP or WTA history, with official rankings available since 1973 for the ATP and 1975 for the WTA.
Auger-Aliassime still has ground to cover to move higher in the standings. He is 2,865 points behind the current world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, with the rankings showing Zverev at 7,305 points and Auger-Aliassime at 4,440.
The Canadian will shift his focus to grass. He begins his grass-court season this week at the ATP 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, entering as the No. 1 seed. After a first-round bye he will open against either Hubert Hurkacz or Marton Fucsovics.
The new ranking reflects a season of important progress for Auger-Aliassime and cements his place among the highest-ranked Canadians in modern tennis history.
Zverev Arrives at Laver Cup With Europe’s Title Bid in Focus
Alex Eala opens Singapore challenge against Prozorova as ranking gains loom
Zverev’s breakthrough season rewrites a long-running story
Raducanu Arrives at US Open With Momentum After Strong Hard‑Court Swing
Maestrelli Triumphs in Bergamo, Claims Challenger Title and Career‑High Ranking
