John McEnroe warns: Pressure could be Sinner’s Achilles’ heel.

Jannik Sinner enters the 2026 Roland Garros with an almost unbeatable status: 29 consecutive victories and only two set losses on his journey this year. With his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, out of action due to injury, the path to the Musketeers’ Cup seems wide open for the young Italian. But beware, warns John McEnroe, a tennis legend who knows better than most the pressure of top competitions: Alcaraz’s absence does not eliminate Sinner’s greatest enemy — himself and the pressure he carries.

McEnroe has no doubts: “When you lose Carlos, there’s more pressure on Jannik. I bet on him against the rest of the field, and I believe many others do too. That increases the pressure on him,” he confessed in an exclusive conversation with Tennis365 during a TNT Sports event in Paris. The former champion also noted moments when Sinner appeared physically exhausted, such as against Spizzirri in Australia and recently against Medvedev. “There were two or three instances where it seemed like he couldn’t take it anymore, but he managed to overcome them. For me, that’s where his biggest vulnerability lies.”

Since his last defeat at the Qatar Open, Sinner has won titles in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome, confirming his absolute dominance on the courts. However, the instances where his physical endurance has been tested cannot be overlooked. At the Australian Open, for example, the Italian suffered from such severe cramps that he could barely serve, losing the first set to Eliot Spizzirri and finding himself at a disadvantage in the third set. A break due to a heat rule granted him 10 minutes to recover, and Sinner turned it around to win the match.

Recently, in the semi-final of the Italian Open against Daniil Medvedev, the scenario repeated itself: dizziness, cramps, and nausea threatened to take the tennis player down. The match was interrupted by rain while Sinner was leading, but the tournament director admitted to being “seriously concerned” about the Italian’s physical condition. However, the player returned the next day and completed the match in just 15 minutes.

This analysis by McEnroe is particularly insightful, as it reveals that, although Sinner has not been defeated by opponents or conditions, his greatest challenge may lie in his own ability to withstand extreme pressure. The absence of Alcaraz, who faced Sinner in the longest final in the history of Roland Garros in 2025 — an epic five hours and twenty-nine minutes, featuring an unprecedented super tiebreaker — changes the landscape, but does not alleviate the pressure.

The historic clash between Sinner and Alcaraz elevated world tennis to another level. Last year, Alcaraz came back from two sets down to defeat Sinner in a five-set duel that will forever be remembered by fans. Now, without his main rival, Sinner assumes the role of overwhelming favorite, but this can be a double-edged sword.

In his debut at the tournament in Paris, Sinner will face the world number 171, Clément Tabur, in what appears to be an accessible match. However, this Roland Garros has already seen devastating surprises, with early exits from names like Taylor Fritz and Emma Raducanu in the first round, demonstrating that no favorite is immune to an unexpected defeat.

If he manages to win in Paris, the 24-year-old Italian will achieve his fifth Grand Slam title, securing the much-coveted Career Grand Slam. The tennis community, including McEnroe, sees Sinner as an unstoppable force, but his greatest adversary may be the weight of being the undeniable favorite.

This is the drama that promises to ignite the next two weeks at Roland Garros: can Jannik Sinner withstand the overwhelming pressure and cement his place in the pantheon of tennis greats, or is this his greatest vulnerability? The answer is about to be revealed, and no one will want to miss a second of this epic battle.

This article first appeared on Apito Final.