Andrei Rublev has no luck at the Grand Slam tournament in Paris – and suffers a clear defeat in the third round of Roland Garros. A black streak continues
He argued, he scolded himself, he swung his racket – but it didn’t help: Russian Andrei Rublev was the first player from the top ten seeds to bow out of the French Open. The sixth-ranked player in the world surprisingly lost 6:7 (6:8), 2:6, 4:6 to Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the third round in Paris on Friday.
For Rublev, this continued a remarkable – and curious – streak for a top ten pro: he has never reached the semi-finals in his 26 Grand Slam tournaments since his debut in Flushing Meadows in 2015. This means that only the quarter-finals remain the 26-year-old’s greatest success at all four majors
Sinner on his way to the number one ranking
Arnaldi’s compatriot and tournament co-favorite Jannik Sinner, on the other hand, is well on his way to becoming the new world number one. The Australian Open winner has reached the round of 16 and thus taken the next step towards the top of the world rankings. The 22-year-old, still number two in the ATP rankings, beat the Russian Pavel Kotov 6:4, 6:4, 6:4 in the third round.
Sinner would replace the Serb Novak Djokovic as number one if he reached the final – even if he loses to Djokovic in the final. If Djokovic doesn’t win the tournament, the South Tyrolean would also have to reach the semi-finals. However, if Djokovic does not reach the semi-finals, Sinner would definitely be the new world number one.
To date, neither an Italian nor an Italian woman has topped the singles world rankings. Sinner is in the last 16 at the French Open for the fourth time, although he only made it one round further on his debut in 2020. Sinner’s next opponents will be Austria’s Sebastian Ofner and France’s Corentin Moutet on Friday afternoon.
