{"id":48738,"date":"2026-04-22T15:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=48738"},"modified":"2026-04-22T15:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:04:35","slug":"sinner-man-to-beat-at-clay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=48738","title":{"rendered":"Sinner: Man to beat at clay"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jannik Sinner was once viewed as an explosive talent custom-built for hardcourt tennis but the four-times \u200bGrand Slam champion’s assiduous work on his patience and control has made him the man to beat on clay heading \u200cinto the French Open.
\nIt had long been assumed that in his era-defining rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner would scoop up more Grand Slam titles on faster surfaces while the Spaniard would have the edge on red dirt.
\nAlcaraz, who has won seven majors, remains a formidable claycourt player and is the reigning Roland Garros champion but lost \u200bto Sinner in the Monte Carlo final earlier this month. He then suffered a wrist injury in Barcelona that has disrupted his \u200bpreparations for Paris.
\nSinner’s progression will continue this week in Madrid, which is at a higher altitude than the \u2060other European clay venues and quickens the pace of the surface, offering another opportunity for the 24-year-old to showcase his adaptability.
\n“Here it’s a very \u200bunique playing style,” Sinner said.
\n“It’s a very high altitude and it can be windy at times, so it’s very difficult to play. But I think \u200bevery different kind of claycourt can help me as I’m trying to improve as a player.”
\nResults at the big tournaments seemingly offer little to choose between Sinner and Alcaraz over the last couple of years but former player and sports psychologist Jeff Greenwald believes he has identified some subtle differences emerging.
\n“Sinner, even more than Alcaraz, \u200bhas this unflappable demeanour that is built from this deep love and appreciation of the process,” Greenwald told Reuters.
\n“He’s the poster child for mastery, \u200ba desire to be as good as he can be, which overrides the ever fluctuating, short-term obsession with this point, this win, that is almost always trading \u200cthe short-term \u2060result for longer-term success.”
\n\u00a0
\nDecisive advantages
\nThat focus on mastery over moments has steadily reshaped Sinner’s approach on clay, where his tactical discipline and ability to handle uncertainty are standing out as decisive advantages ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 24.
\nSinner’s mental strength could be tested in a different way as he confronts the weight of expectation that comes with being seen by many as the favourite rather than the challenger over the \u200bnext few weeks.
\nGreenwald said expectations were \u200bthe most natural, yet potentially \u2060damaging, distractions for even great players.
\n“They try to not get preoccupied by them with the ‘process mindset’ as best they can but most of the players are vulnerable to this reality, given that their livelihoods are on \u200bthe line,” he added.
\n“This is where Sinner has an advantage … he didn’t develop this (mindset) after becoming successful. It \u200bwas baked into \u2060his training and development. So whether he’s labelled a favourite by the media and other players, this will not affect him.
\n“More than anything, it’ll only solidify the confidence, remarkable resilience and joy he brings to every match.”
\nIf Alcaraz is fit to play, the French Open could prove a major mental test for \u2060Sinner after \u200bhe lost to his great rival in last year’s epic title clash.
\nHowever, with the \u200bcareer Grand Slam on the line for the Italian, he wants Alcaraz to be on the other side of the net at Roland Garros.
\n“When you want to win, you want \u200bto do it by beating the best and he’s among them,” Sinner said.\u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jannik Sinner was once viewed as an explosive talent custom-built for hardcourt tennis but the four-times \u200bGrand Slam champion’s assiduous work on his patience and control has made him the man to beat on clay heading \u200cinto the French Open. It had long been assumed that in his era-defining rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}