Jannik Sinner should be well-rested for a long run at the 2025 French Open. He was suspended for three months due to a failed drug test in March 2024 and was not able to come back until early May. This was just in time for the remaining three Grand Slams of the year.
Not that Sinner needs the rest. He dominated the last half of 2024 and started 2025 by winning the Australian Open. He might not be the best clay-court player currently (that title belongs to Carlos Alcaraz), but he is the best overall men's player. And it's not close.
Meanwhile, his fourth-round opponent at Roland Garros was Andrey Rublev, an overly emotional player on the court but an extremely nice guy off of it, who only has one gear. He tries to hit the ball as if it had just stolen his kids' lunch money. That works sometimes, but not against a player of Sinner's ilk.
Jannik Sinner defeats Andrey Rublev to reach quarterfinals of the 2025 French Open
The Italian let the Russian know who was boss from the start. Sinner led 5-0 in the first set before Rublev was finally able to come through. The second set was only slightly less dramatic, as Sinner got the only break he needed to lead 6-1 6-3 heading into the third.
At 2-all in the third set, Rublev had a break point, almost shocking as he had not sniffed getting a service game off of the Italian, but the Russian tried to do too much at 30-40 and Sinner won the next two points to lead 3-2.
Rublev is not a bad player, and since he is so nice away from the game, one wishes he did not beat himself up so much on the court, but he needs to learn to add to his game. A little touch would do him good, but at this point, the 27-year-old seems long passed by the likes of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Still, he is a solid clay-court player, and Sinner's easy win over the Russian says more about the Italian than it does Rublev. The Russian should have gotten the break in the third set because any hope he had seemed to be gone after he failed.
Rublev fought hard and played well enough to defeat many players, but not Sinner. The Italian took the match 6-1 6-3 6-4.
Sinner will next play the mercurial Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals. The winner of that match will take on the winner of the Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic match for a spot in the semifinals.