Jannik Sinner is more than capable of claiming victory at any Grand Slam he enters, according to former world No. 17 and tennis pundit, Fabrice Santoro. Sinner, who has quickly established himself as one of the sport’s rising stars, added another Grand Slam singles title to his collection after his dominant straight-sets win over Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final.
The 23-year-old Italian has now bagged back-to-back titles in Melbourne, having triumphed over Daniil Medvedev last year, and added a US Open crown after defeating Taylor Fritz in the final last September. His success has placed him in elite company, as he is now one of only eight players in the Open Era to win his first three Grand Slam finals. This latest victory has solidified his reputation as a hard-court powerhouse.
Despite his undeniable success on hard courts, Sinner has yet to reach the final at either the French Open or Wimbledon, having fallen in the semifinals at both events in recent years. After dominating in Melbourne, the tennis world is now eagerly watching to see if the Italian can carry his success over to the other surfaces.
When asked by L’Equipe if Sinner could emulate Rod Laver’s feat of winning all four Grand Slam titles in a single season, Santoro refrained from making any bold predictions but did express strong confidence in the Italian’s ability to compete at the highest level across all major tournaments. Santoro pointed to Sinner’s impressive near-misses on clay in 2024 as proof of his potential on that surface.
“I don’t know if he’ll manage to complete the Grand Slam, but I’m certain he can win any Grand Slam he competes in,” Santoro remarked. “I said the same thing last year before Roland Garros, and he’s only gotten better since.”
Santoro further detailed how close Sinner came to claiming a title on clay in 2024, citing two pivotal losses. One of them occurred at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where Sinner was leading 4-1, 30-40 in the third set against Stefanos Tsitsipas before a controversial line call that was not challenged. “Sinner should have been up 5-1 and on the verge of reaching the final,” Santoro observed. “It was a huge missed opportunity due to a referee’s error.”
The second near-miss was in the Roland Garros semi-finals, where Sinner was leading two sets to one against Carlos Alcaraz before falling in five sets. “Had he beaten Alcaraz, there’s no guarantee he would’ve won against Zverev in the final, but he certainly would’ve been the favorite,” Santoro added.
Sinner’s best French Open performance came in 2024, where he reached the semifinals before bowing out to Alcaraz. This surpassed his previous best performance at Roland Garros, which was a quarter-final appearance in 2020. At Wimbledon, Sinner reached the semis in 2023, where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic. He had also reached the quarter-finals in both 2022 and 2023, falling to Djokovic and Medvedev, respectively.
While Sinner’s success on hard courts is well-documented—having contested 22 out of his 24 ATP finals on the surface—he has also tasted victory on both clay and grass. He captured his first clay court title at the 2022 Croatia Open by defeating Alcaraz, and added a grass-court title to his collection with a win over Hubert Hurkacz at the Halle Open in June 2024. The future looks bright for Sinner, and his journey across all surfaces is only just beginning.