Jannik Sinner walks on the damp earth of Monte-Carlo as he would on a velvet red carpet. He makes no secret that he loves playing where he can sleep in his own bed, although he has never managed to win the title.
The second round, the first for him, against the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (6-3 6-0), which lasted just over an hour, marks the debut of the clay court season which the world number two has never hidden as one of the objectives of the current season.
It is almost obvious that he wants to take back the Roland Garros that last year he regretfully lost to Carlos Alcaraz despite having two match points in his favor. A debut that is not significant in itself but in which several significant things are at play: the measurement of the form on clay, the verification of the service developed during the last season and the test on a different surface, less favorable to Sinner than hard court, where the service in itself yields less. But also, although the South Tyrolean red does not say he is aiming for it, first place in the world.
Since the tournament began, the thousand points won by Alcaraz in 2025 have expired and therefore the virtual distance between the Spanish number one and Jannik Sinner, who last year was at a standstill, is now just 190 points. It means that victory in the tournament for Sinner would mathematically lead to number one, while by reaching the final or semi-final Jannik would only take first place if the rival from Murcia stopped in the previous round.
Despite being appreciated for the domestic atmosphere, the many supporters, with a full load of carrots in all sorts of ways in the stands, and even with Usain Bolt watching (a second round!), Monte-Carlo is above all for Sinner a stage of approach to the highlight of the season on clay: Rome with the Italian international that Jannik is still missing and Paris with the only slam that has escaped him so far in his career. They are the fiefdoms of the Spaniard, the only real opponent of the Italian champion who a few days ago on his official YouTube channel admitted that without tennis he would not have imagined himself as a professional skier, despite having won a lot as a child, but as a chef following his father, in Monte-Carlo in the stands and probably in action in the kitchen of the Sinner house.
