Carlos Alcaraz arrives at Roland Garros brimming with confidence after taking down chief rival Jannik Sinner in Rome, but the defending champion expects the Italian to be an even tougher proposition after shaking off the rust following his doping ban.
Alcaraz and Sinner will be on opposite sides of the draw as the Spaniard returned to the second in the world this week following his Italian Open triumph, potentially setting the stage for another blockbuster final between the game's two rising superstars.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz has won 15 of 16 matches on clay this season, triumphing at Monte Carlo and reaching the Barcelona final before going all the way in Rome after missing the Madrid Open with a thigh injury.
He has also had Sinner's number of late, winning their last four meetings to take a 7-4 head-to-head advantage, a record that includes Alcaraz's five-set win in last year's French Open semifinal. His success on Sunday ended Sinner's run of 26 successive victories.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz believes the challenge of playing Sinner brings the best out of him.
"He's the best player in the world. It doesn't matter that he was out of the tour for three months. Every tournament he's playing, he plays great. The numbers are there. He wins almost every match he plays," said Alcaraz.
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"If I don't play at my best, 10 out of 10, it's going to be impossible to beat him. That's why I'm more focused when I'm playing against him, or I feel a little bit different when I'm going to face him than other players.
"He has that aura. When you're seeing him on the other side of the net, it's different.
"I'm not going to say I'm feeling like when Rafa (Nadal) and Roger (Federer) are playing, but I'm feeling like it's a different energy when we are facing against each other."
Sinner suffered his first straight-sets loss in 18 months in Rome, underlining his dominance in that time. Equally as impressive though was his run to the final in his first tournament since he retained the Australian Open title in January.
'CLOSER THAN EXPECTED'
"I am closer than expected in a way of everything," said Sinner, who served a three-month ban after twice testing positive for traces of the banned anabolic steroid Clostebol.
Sinner has always maintained the product entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing it to treat a cut.
He eventually reached a settlement after authorities accepted the contamination was accidental and that a longer ban would be an "unduly harsh sanction".
"After three months coming here making this result means a lot to me," Sinner said after his runners-up finish in Rome. "It gives me hopefully confidence to play some good tennis also in Paris."
Sinner called Alcaraz "the man to beat" but Alexander Zverev is among the title pretenders too after falling just short in last year's final. Zverev then lost to Sinner in the Australian Open final but does have a clay trophy under his belt this season after winning in Munich.
He made a late decision to enter the Hamburg event this week after losing in the quarterfinals in Rome, searching for a boost after a "very negative" loss to Lorenzo Musetti.
"This can't be the last match before the French Open... I need positivity before it starts," said Zverev.
DJOKOVIC GOING UNDER THE RADAR
Novak Djokovic will touch down in Paris with limited expectations for a man with a record 24 Grand Slam titles, three of them coming at Roland Garros.
The long-time former world No 1 has slipped to sixth in the rankings, leaving him vulnerable to the possibility of a quarterfinal against Alcaraz or Sinner, as his wait for a tour-level 100th title goes on. His last one came at the Olympics, where he beat Alcaraz on Court Philippe Chatrier to land an elusive gold medal.
Djokovic skipped Rome after early exits in Monte Carlo and Madrid and is looking to rediscover some form by playing in Geneva.
Madrid champion Casper Ruud is a two-time Roland Garros runner-up, while Britain's Jack Draper ranks a career-best fifth after winning at Indian Wells and reaching the Madrid final.
Musetti has also performed well during the clay swing. The Italian lost the Monte Carlo final to Alcaraz and made the last four as well in Madrid and Rome.
Holger Rune is the only player to beat Alcaraz so far on clay this season but he has struggled for fitness either side of his Barcelona triumph.