Italian Open: Jannik Sinner is ‘getting closer to defeat’, says rival
Andrey Rublev is seeing his glass as half full ahead of his Italian Open match against in-form Jannik Sinner as he believes the world No 1’s unbeaten run at ATP Masters 1000 level will have to come to an end at some point.
Sinner has won five consecutive Masters tournaments with his run starting at the Paris Masters last November, while he has also lifted trophies at the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open so far this year.
He extended his unbeaten match streak at the level to 31 with a two-set win over qualifier Andrea Pellegrino in the round of 16 in Rome to draw level with Novak Djokovic for the longest-winning run at ATP 1000 events.
His last defeat at a Masters event was on 5 October when he retired from his round of 32 encounter against Tallon Griekspoor at the Shanghai Masters.
The Italian will get a chance to claim the outright record when he takes on Rublev in the quarter-final in Rome and during an interview with Tennis Channel, the Russian was asked about facing Sinner.
“How many Masters titles has he won already in row? Five? How many? Twenty-something matches won in a row? He’s getting closer to finally [tasting] defeat. The more he wins, the closer he gets [to finally losing],” Rublev joked.
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Asked if he is excited about the challenge ahead, the 12th seed replied: “I’m fine. I don’t know, I’m not excited, I’m not better, I’m fine. If you ask me, I prefer to play someone else. Of course, I prefer to play someone else.
“But if [you ask] if I would like to challenge myself against Jannik as well, yes, I would like to challenge myself against Jannik so that’s why I am fine.”
Sinner leads the head-to-head against Rublev 7-3 with their last meeting coming at Roland Garros last year when the Italian won their round of 16 encounter in straight sets.
Rublev’s last win against the four-time Grand Slam winner was in August 2024 at the Canadian Open.
Sinner is now also just three wins away from becoming the youngest man to complete the Career Golden Masters as the Italian Open is the only trophy missing from his collection following his first titles at Monte Carlo and Madrid this year.
The Italian has won titles at Indian Wells (2026), Miami (2024 and 2026), Canada (2023), Cincinnati (2024), Shanghai (2024) and Paris (2025).
His nine titles puts him seventh on the all-time list for most ATP Masters 1000 titles won, still well adrift of Djokovic’s record of 40.
