As Jannik Sinner cruised to a stunning victory over Andrey Rublev in the French Open last 16 on Monday, he sent a warning to his French Open title rivals.
Russian 17th seed Rublev appeared to be a challenging challenge for Sinner, but the world no. 1 fought it out to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“Things can go very quickly in a bad way, especially the best of five,” Sinner said.
“I’m delighted to finish it in three,” she said. These Parisian night sessions are truly unique.
Also read: Djokovic wins the record-breaking 19th French Open Quarter-Final.
The Italian, who returned from a three-month doping suspension in Rome in May, will face Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who is unseeded, in the quarter-finals.
Sinner defeated Bublik 3-1 in their previous meeting on grass in Halle, but they did not win.
After winning the US Open last year and the Australian Open for the second time in a row in January, he now has a third successive Grand Slam title in Paris.
After falling to Rublev in the final 16 at Roland Garros in 2022, Sinner gained some reprieve from his third set injury.
He fired five aces and 25 winners past a confused opponent on Monday while being in top form.
You don’t want to show your opponent anything, Sinner said of his calm on-court demeanor, but there is a storm going on inside.
“The storm was not only inside but also outside in my young career.”
In the match’s opening game, the 23-year-old saved two break points from eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, who had defeated him in the 2024 semi-finals.
However, he only missed one set point for a first-set bagel as he surged to a 5-0 lead and won the opener.
When Rublev dropped the serve once more, Sinner took a 2-1 lead into the second set.
Rublev, a 10-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, raised his game in the third set with the audience firmly in his step.
But his only setback was when Sinner defended himself on serve before the top seed’s first match point, when a Rublev forehand hit the net and spun wide, was when Sinner held his serve.
