Expert: "Strongest Sinner at Roland Garros, Nole is not a candidate"

The French Open Roland Garros is the second Grand Slam tournament in 2025. The official round of this tournament will take place in Paris (France) today (May 25, Vietnam time).

Like other Grand Slam tournaments in recent years, the race for the men's singles title (the most attractive title of the tournament) continues to be a confrontation between two young players Jannik Sinner (Italy, 23 years old) and Carlos Alcaraz (Spain, 22 years old).

According to the opinion of former General Secretary of the Vietnam Tennis Federation Doan Thanh Tung, at the present time, Jannik Sinner is better than Alcaraz. Mr. Doan Thanh Tung talked with Dan Tri reporter before Roland Garros 2025 started.

Former Secretary General of Vietnam Tennis Federation Doan Thanh Tung (standing) (Photo: VTF).

The duel between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

How do you evaluate the situation of the men's singles event at Roland Garros? Who is the leading candidate for the championship in this event?

- In my opinion, at the moment, Jannik Sinner is the one with the biggest chance to win the Roland Garros 2025 title. Sinner's main rival is certainly still Carlos Alcaraz. However, Alcaraz's form is not as good as Sinner's.

Technically, both of these players are extremely skilled, at the same level. When players are technically equal, of equal class, and have no physical differences, then form will be the deciding factor between the two sides.

Jannisk Sinner is the number one candidate for the championship at Roland Garros 2025 (Photo: Reuters).

In addition, the championships at the most recent Grand Slam tournaments (US Open 2024, Australian Open 2025) have helped Jannik Sinner's experience and courage reach new heights. Now, he believes that he can always succeed in major tournaments in the Grand Slam system. This confidence helps Jannik Sinner become more courageous and more durable.

However, Carlos Alcaraz was the winner of the Italian Open which ended just a week ago. That was also a clay court tournament, a warm-up for Roland Garros?

- The nature of the Italian Open cannot be compared to that of Roland Garros. Firstly, the Italian Open is a Grand Slam tournament, and the prize money is not as high as at Roland Garros. Therefore, the top athletes have not necessarily given their all in the tournament in Rome.

Second, the Italian Open is a tournament where players only play 3 sets per match (whoever wins two sets first wins the match). The nature of the tournament is therefore different from other Grand Slam tournaments, including Roland Garros, which require players to play 5 sets per match (whoever wins three sets first wins the match).

Carlos Alcaraz has lacked consistency in recent Grand Slam tournaments (Photo: Reuters).

With tournaments that force players to play 5 sets per match, the physical, mental preparation and concentration are much greater. Therefore, a player winning a Masters 1000 tournament like the Italian Open hardly reflects anything when that same player enters a Grand Slam tournament like Roland Garros.

Clay courts are not Alcaraz's forte.

What about the court? Is the clay court at Roland Garros the forte of Spanish players in general, and Carlos Alcaraz in particular?

- The clay court at Roland Garros is indeed very different from other types of court surfaces in the Grand Slam tournament system. On this court, athletes will have to spend more energy moving and hitting the ball.

Also on clay courts, the ball travels slower. The bounce after hitting the ground is also different from the bounce on hard courts. This makes it more difficult for players to get used to the difference.

However, at the present time, at the level of top athletes, most players are familiar with all types of playing surfaces. Moreover, European players in general often play on clay courts, not just Spanish players.

So, the court surface at Roland Garros is not Carlos Alcaraz's forte. Jannik Sinner is also no stranger to clay courts.

The clay court at Roland Garros is not Carlos Alcaraz's forte (Photo: Reuters).

In terms of brackets, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are in two different brackets. Whose bracket do you think is more advantageous?

- Jannik Sinner is in the same draw with Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev (Russia) and Alexander Zverev (Germany). Among them, Medvedev, Rublev and Zverev have long been out of the group of athletes who can compete for the highest titles in Grand Slam tournaments.

Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, is not a major tournament favorite. He is past his prime. That is why Jannik Sinner is in the easy draw.

On the other side, Carlos Alcaraz will likely face Ben Shelton (USA) or Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece). Tsitsipas is a player with a difficult playing style. Ben Shelton is an up-and-coming player, an unknown quantity in major tournaments.

Carlos Alcaraz will likely have to go through some very tough matches to reach the finals. I think Alcaraz's draw is more complicated than Sinner's.

Novak Djokovic is a thing of the past

Speaking of Novak Djokovic, it seems that the Serbian tennis player has fallen behind the new generation of world tennis?

- As I said, Nole is not a candidate for this year's championship. The Serbian tennis player is no longer capable of winning tournaments in the Grand Slam system.

This is the inevitable law of time. Nole is old (38 years old), no longer has the stamina to pursue 5-set matches at Grand Slam tournaments, day after day, round after round.

Novak Djokovic is past his prime despite having just won the Geneva Open 2025 (Photo: Reuters).

The fact that he continues to participate in Grand Slam tournaments is probably just to motivate young athletes. At the same time, Nole also wants to test his own limits, to see how long he can stay at the top of the playing field. Novak Djokovic himself comes to Grand Slam tournaments now not to compete for titles.

In your opinion, what stage can Novak Djokovic reach at Roland Garros 2025?

- I think Nole's best chance is to reach the quarter-finals. It's hard for him to get past that stage. In theory, the deeper the tournament goes, the slower athletes recover. At Nole's age, recovering from tournaments that last for many days becomes a bigger challenge for him.

This is the era of the new generation of players, most notably Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. As for Carlos Alcaraz, unfortunately he is not able to maintain the high power shots of previous years, mainly due to the Spaniard's lack of consistency in recent times, as I mentioned above.

In my opinion, it will take 1-2 more years for Carlos Alcaraz to stabilize, when he reaches a more mature age. But at the present time, Jannik Sinner is more stable, more confident, and Jannik Sinner's chances of success at Roland Garros are higher!

Thank you for the conversation!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chuyen-gia-sinner-manh-nhat-roland-garros-nole-khong-phai-ung-cu-vien-20250524230333469.htm