Tennis News: Jannik Sinner's big move and Rafael Nadal seems ready

Jannik Sinner was already a rankings winner by simply reaching the Monte-Carlo Masters semifinals. He had moved into ATP No. 2 passing Carlos Alcaraz and taking aim on Novak Djokovic's top ranking. Djokovic, however, has kept his rankings points so much higher than any other player that no one had a real chance to catch the Serb recently. That could change soon, however, even though Sinner lost in the semifinals in Monte-Carlo (so did Djokovic).

The biggest issue for Djokovic is that he has not been playing extremely well, compared to his normal form, over the course of 2024. He did make a good run in Monte-Carlo but he sometimes seemed to struggle physically even while winning. Had he been playing Sinner, a healthy Carlos Alcaraz, or Stefanos Tsitsipas, he likely would have bowed out of the event early.

Djokovic will have 2,000 points to defend at the French Open at the end of May. Should Sinner win the Rome Masters and Madrid Masters, and then do better than Djokovic at Roland Garros, we could potentially see a change at No. 1 on the ATP tour. The question would then become how long Sinner can hold on to the ranking as he has not yet proven to be the player on grass that Alcaraz and Djokovic are.

Jannik Sinner might be making a run and Rafael Nadal might be back

As far as a master of clay, though, that would be Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard is likely the best player ever on the surface. But Nadal has been battling injuries for most of two years since 2022 Wimbledon and he appears close to the end of his career. Still, Nadal is trying to get back in form by the French Open and that return is expected to happen at the Barcelona Open this week.

Ahead of the event, he has been practicing against some of the better players on the ATP tour. One of these players is Andrey Rublev who played a practice set with Nadal in Barcelona. According to reporters who watched, Nadal was not only able to compete with Rublev, the Spaniard dominated the Russian 6-1. One social media post read, "Rafa Nadal has just nailed Rublev, world number 6 and still current Monte Carlo champion, 6-1."

That should certainly give Nadal fans a lot of hope entering the final events of the clay court season. Everyone likely wants to see Nadal be healthy enough to play at Roland Garros and then make a deep run in the major. That might also mark the final time we see Rafael Nadal play a professional match at the Grand Slam he has won 14 times so far.

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