In the fall of 2020, the strangest Roland Garros in history was contested.
The chronicler remembers well those days, the walks towards the Bois de Boulogne, passing the Parisian boulevards, with his face masked, the hood on his head and the scarf around his neck.
It rained often.
In post-pandemic Paris, Roland Garros was a strange bubble. No stores, no windows, no merchandising. The tennis players walked the corridors in their air: no one was going to ask them for a selfie.
Rafael Nadal was 34 years old and still had a good tennis career ahead of him when, already in the dark of night, he went out on the scene to face Jannik Sinner, a red-haired teenager, long and sharp as a lightning rod, still semi-unknown.
(A semi-unknown Sinner to the general public, understandably, since the ATP people had already clipped him: in 2019, the Italian had jumped from 553rd to 78th in the rankings, and that's why the community of tennis had designated him newcomer of the year, revelation of the year).
How tough the quarter-final adventure had been.
The long-haired redhead hadn't given him anything at Christmas: Sinner had been robotic, hitting magnificent parallel forehands, even breaking the serve of the Balearic, the best clay specialist ever, and only he had already given in at one in the morning, after almost three hours of playing, after telling the world:
-I am here.
Despite the fact that the exercise had not translated into a victory, Sinner had further amazed the tennis community and the many experts, among whom were members of Rafael Nadal's coaching staff.
Behind the scenes, the Christmas environment told the reporter
– This Italian, Sinner, will be in the Top 3 very soon.
So, it was necessary to pay attention to Sinner, to the Italian school in general, since then Berrettini (Alcaraz's rival today in the eighth), Cecchinato or Sonego were already shining, and at the bottom of the ranking another promising one was bubbling: Musetti.
Sinner was then the 44th.
Nadal was on top of the world (he would claim the 20th Grand Slam, as many as Federer had).
Alcaraz was hardly a minor figure in the local press.
Yes, Sinner had everything to take over tennis.
Or so they believed.
(...)
Four years later, we continue to wait for Sinner, eighth in the world, tennis player of the academic game, no longer so imperturbable, angry if things go wrong.
Just yesterday, en route to victory against Colombian Daniel Galán, Sinner had tangled with Marijana Veljovic, the chair judge, a couple of times.
– I'm usually calm, but sometimes these things happen. I was bothered by a couple of decisions against me - Sinner would say later.
Maybe he's nervous.
Nervous and impatient.
In fact, Sinner (21) already has seven titles, although none of them are from an organization (Montpellier, Umag, Antwerp...) and he is not remembered for excellent performances at the Grand Slam either.
Brilliant at times – brilliant was his victory against Alcaraz a year ago at Wimbledon, in the round of 16 –, Sinner is irregular at other times, especially in the Grand Slams, where he has always been limited to the quarter-finals.
Statistically surpassed by Alcaraz and Rune, generational peers, the experts bid for time: they interpret Sinner as a slow-burning tennis player.
– Sinner is not like Alcaraz, who at 19 is already capable of defeating anyone. He doesn't have his mentality or that of Djokovic, who also doesn't fear anyone. Sinner still has weaknesses. But he is growing and we will see him win Grand Slam titles - says Patrick Mouratoglou, tennis guru.
In quarters, Patrick Mouratoglou is waiting for Roman Safiullin, tennis player with the flagship (it is Russian) who ranks 92nd at the ATP.
