Sinner speeds into history with Rome win

With his generational rival Carlos Alcaraz injured, and most of the top 10 floundering, Sinner goes to Roland Garros as the heaviest favourite since the great Rafael Nadal.

Nothing can be taken for granted, of course.

Sinner's physical and mental freshness will be tested in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a Grand Slam fortnight.

If Sinner does lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires on 7 June, it will leave him only an Olympics gold medal away from completing the full house of the sport's biggest individual prizes.

How Sinner's trajectory compares to the Big Three

Following his Rome triumph, Sinner has now won 16 of the sport's 'big titles’ - which comprises of the four Grand Slams, nine Masters 1000s, the year-end Tour Finals and the Olympics.

The rate which Sinner is achieving greatness - before he turns 25 in August - is comparable to the legends who went before him.

At the same age of 24 years and nine months old, Djokovic had won 17 of these distinguished tournaments.

The Serb's embryonic body of work came in one of the strongest eras of the ATP Tour, however.

Gatecrashing the duopoly of Roger Federer and Nadal, as well as jostling with Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Stan Wawrinka in a talented generation, makes Djokovic's early haul even more impressive.

Federer had claimed 19 titles at the same age as Sinner. He had Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt to contend with in his formative years, then Nadal - and later Djokovic - emerged.

Nadal was a teenage prodigy who dominated on clay from the moment he won Monte Carlo in 2005, adding the Rome and Roland Garros titles in the following weeks.

By Sinner's current age, Nadal had won 28 titles. However, the speed of the Spaniard's success slowed down in the second half of his career as Djokovic's level soared and injuries took hold.

There is an obvious caveat to Sinner’s numbers. It is clear he is playing in an era which lacks the same depth.

Currently, Sinner is only being fully tested by Alcaraz and, while the Spaniard recovers, the rest of the pack lacks the talent, belief or - in Djokovic's case - youth to beat him.

What Sinner might go on to achieve is impossible to predict.

A player's longevity can be damaged by injury and loss of form at any given moment, while Alcaraz's ability - and the emergence of more superstars - could also halt his progress.

But the numbers already racked up by Sinner show how he is undoubtedly tracking Djokovic, Nadal and Federer - who became known as the 'Big Three' as they rewrote the record books.

The stats which underline Sinner's success

• Sinner's tally of 14,700 points at the top of the world rankings is comfortably clear of Alcaraz's tally (11,960), with nearest challengers Alexander Zverev (5,705), Novak Djokovic (4,710) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (4,060) lagging well behind the pair.

• Sinner has won 36 of his 38 matches this season - only Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals and Czech world number 16 Jakub Mensik in the Doha quarter-finals have beaten him.

• Sinner has not lost at a Masters event since Shanghai in October 2025 - and that was an injury retirement against Tallon Griekspoor in the third round.

• Sinner is the first player to start 29-0 at the first six Masters events of a calendar year since the format was introduced in 1990