Sinner Kicks off Career Slam Bid in Paris

Jannik Sinner got his bid for the Career Grand Slam underway on Tuesday night in Paris, cruising through a first-round tilt with French wild card Clement Tabur, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. 

The top seed notched his 30th consecutive win and set a second-round clash with Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He is a perfect 18-0 on clay so far in 2026. 

Sinner never faced a break point, doubled up his opponent in the winner category (40-20), and he dropped just 17 points on serve. 

“Starting off a tournament is always very special, and playing the night session, it’s very nice,” the Italian said. “He’s a very good competitor, so I was looking forward to it. We had some really good rallies. First-round matches, as I said, are never easy, so I’m very happy.” 

Tabur, a 5’8″ baseliner from Reims, France, brought the crowd to life at times. The 26-year-old World No. 171, who got a wild card when Stan Wawrinka moved into the main draw, showed his potential and kept the crowd interested, especially in the 52-minute third set. 

Sinner at Night?

Many believe that the only thing that can get between Sinner and a maiden Roland-Garros title is a freak injury or extreme heat. He has a history of struggling with the heat at times, and was thought to be in deep trouble in Australia during scorching hot conditions in a third-round match against Eliot Spizzirri. The heat rule kicked in and Sinner had a reprieve as he waited for the roof to close – he won in four. 

With temperatures slated to stay around the nineties through Saturday, he could be scheduled to play in the heat on one of his next two matches, even though he’d likely prefer to play at night as much as possible.

“I’m happy to play at night. I’m happy to play at day, whenever they put me,” he said. “We will see. 

“I think I handled the heat very well in Indian Wells – it was very hot this year, so I didn’t have issues there. We prepared in a good way. Of course here, it is different heat, but the humidity is not as tough as maybe in Australia or the U.S.

“Tomorrow is a good day to get used to the heat, and we will see when I’m gonna play [in the second round].