Sinner surpasses Federer, emulates Djokovic's incredible feat after second-round win at Italian Open

Jannik Sinner is in red-hot form in the ongoing clay-court season and has firmly established himself as the favourite heading into the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year that gets underway later this month in Paris.

After his semi-final exit from the Australian Open in January, Sinner was back to winning ways at the Indian Well Masters in March and has been on a roll ever since, winning the next three tournaments including the Monte Carlo Masters, where he defeated fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

At the ongoing Italian Open in Rome, home favourite Sinner appears to be well on his way towards adding another glittering trophy to his cabinet, advancing to the Round of 16 on Monday after defeating Australia's Alexei Popyrin in their second-round meeting.

Sinner emulates historic feat at Masters 1000 tournaments

And in the process of beating Popyrin 6-2, 6-0  in a match that lasted a little over an hour, Sinner went past the legendary Roger Federer and emulated a couple of incredible feats belonging to 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic – whom he will likely face at Roland Garros later this month.

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The victory after all, was Sinner's 30th on the trot at Masters 1000 tournaments, a streak that began in Paris last year and includes victories at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid. The 24-year-old went past Federer, who had won 29 in a row from 2005 to 2006, and has equalled Djokovic, who had achieved the feat twice – winning 31 consecutive games in 2011 and 30 from 2024 to 2025.

And should he advance to the semi-finals in Rome, Sinner will end up breaking Djokovic's record for the most consecutive wins at Masters 1000 tournaments.

Sinner also has won 25 consecutive games at the start of the season, which is also a feat that Djokovic had achieved on two different occasions – with his 31 wins in 2011 and 25 in 2015.

The Italian Open is the only Masters 1000 tournament whose trophy is missing from Sinner's collection, and should the Italian go the distance in his home event, he will join Djokovic in becoming only the second player ATP history to achieve the feat.