Jannick Sinner’s Roland Garros can begin. Having landed yesterday in Paris with his entire staff, in the morning the Italian received good sensations from training on the “Philippe-Chatrier” central court, with Kei Nishikori as his sparring partner. A taste of the Parisian red clay, which from the 26th will host the second slam of the season. Ninety minutes, interrupted by rain, useful to certify that the hip injury – which forced him to withdraw before the quarter-finals in Madrid and therefore to miss the Italian Internationals – seems to be behind him. It now remains to be seen what the body’s responses will be in the event of prolonged encounters. In the meantime, however, the adventure can begin. The world number 2 will try: he will start his fifth career Roland Garros. The best result remains the quarter-final on debut in 2020.
The blue and the Japanese dribbled on the pitch made damp by the atmospheric conditions. Numerous spectators in the stands followed their exchanges. Sinner, accompanied by Simone Vagnozzi, Darren Cahill and Umberto Ferrara appeared smiling and relaxed while awaiting the draw (tomorrow at 2pm) which will see him seeded no.2 behind Novak Djokovic. This guarantees him to meet the Serbian number 1 in the ranking only in a possible final. Positive signals are therefore arriving from the South Tyrolean champion, who had declared that he would have played in Paris only if he had been “100%”. And it was clear that his physical condition was improving on Sunday, when a photo showing him training in Monaco was posted on social media. While waiting for the qualifiers to conclude, 13 Italians are certain to participate in the Parisian Slam.
Nine men: Sinner, Musetti (also seeded), Arnaldi, Sonego, Cobolli, Darderi, Nardi, Fognini and Berrettini; and four women: Paolini, Bronzetti, Cocciaretto and Trevisan. Sara Errani is just one match away from the main draw thanks to the 6-2, 6-1 defeat of the 23-year-old Frenchwoman Alice Tubello, number 374 in the world. Among the men, Stefano Napolitano was out – who stopped against the Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki (n.163) – and Matteo Gigante (n.137), beaten in three sets by the 21-year-old Czech Dalibor Svrcina (n.193). Andrea Pellegrino (n.160) was also eliminated, beaten by the Frenchman n.108 in the world Gregoire Barrere. Instead, Mattia Bellucci, who beat the South African LLoyd Harris (138, but former number 31) 6-1, 7-6, and Giulio Zeppieri, advance. The latter defeated the Bulgarian Adrian Andreev (n.236) in three sets in what was also their first career match.
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