By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Photo: Erste Bank Open Facebook
Jannik the Sinner leads a 21-match winning streak on the hard court in Paris.
Tennis is a numbers game, but there’s one number Sinner says is out of reach this season: Regaining the world No. 1 ranking.
Meeting the media in Paris ahead of his first match against Zizou Bergs, Sinner said it is “impossible” for him to overtake Carlos Alcaraz as world No.1 at the end of the year.
“It’s impossible. Honestly, I’m not thinking about it right now,” Sinner said of reaching No. 1 at the end of the year. “It will be a target for next year. This year it is not in my hands. Let’s put it that way.
“But considering how the whole year went, you know, we accomplished some incredible things. Now I just want to finish the season the best way possible. If I can do something big, amazing. If not, I’ve already done something great this year.”
Six-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz and Sinner made Open Era history by becoming the first men to reach three consecutive Grand Slam finals. Sinner said dethroning Alcaraz to win Wimbledon is his highlight of 2025 so far and points to defending his ATP Finals title in front of home fans in Turin next month as his top priority for the rest of this season.
“If you ask me in that scenario, I’d say winning Wimbledon (was the highlight). But at the same time it’s been an incredible season, making, you know, four Grand Slam finals,” Sinner said. “I have played many, many great games throughout the season. The season is not over yet.
“One tournament I’m still looking forward to is Turin. Last year was a tremendous run there. So we try to prepare as best we can there. But, you know, before that, there’s an important tournament that I didn’t play last year, which is here. I’ve never played well here. So, you know, hopefully I can change some things this year. Then we’ll see how it goes.”
Sinner did not drop a set en route to the ATP Finals last November, a remarkable run that saw him start 2025 by defeating Alexander Zverev to defend his Australian Open crown.
“You know, talking about the overall season has been amazing,” said Sinner, who has reached the finals in eight of 10 tournaments this season. “Very, very consistent. Lots of wins. So yeah, I couldn’t have asked for more, for sure.”
