Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic on collision course at Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka on a roll

Centre Court Column by Deborah Curtis-Setchell

Italian tennis is dripping in laurel wreaths, with Jasmine Poalini soaring up the WTA rankings to No 4 after her first clay-court singles title, made more triumphant having been procured in Rome.

But World No 1 Jannik Sinner will be less euphoric about his emphatic defeat in the same arena to World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz.

This is now as much an established rivalry as the latter’s Herculean clashes with GOAT Novak Djokovic, who is also currently licking his wounds after an opening-round exit in Rome to yet another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi.

Sinner will be hell-bent on lifting his first French Open trophy – with the Roland Garros Grand Slam starting tomorrow – where he finds himself in the same side of the draw as Djokovic, whom he is destined to meet in the semis.

The Serb and Italian are lying neck and neck in their head-to-heads, and fortunately for Sinner, Djokovic is seeded to face former finalist Alexander Zverev, in the quarters, which may eradicate the threat.

That is despite the fact that the German has just suffered a shock early defeat to Frenchman Alexander Muller in Hamburg.

Sinner will further have his hands full, with a potential fourth-round encounter versus the highest-ranked Frenchman in the draw, 14th seed Arthur Fils – the very man who felled Zverev in Rome.

Meanwhile, more lethal national No 1s – namely Jack Draper, Alex de Minaur and Miami champion Jacob Mensik – lurk as other possible quarter-final opponents for the Italian No 1.

Paris St Germain football star Ousmane Dembele, in conducting the draw, dished out equally tricky matches for defending champion, Alcaraz on the opposite side of the Draw.

The Spaniard, in round four, should confront either big-serving lefty Ben Shelton or two-time Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Thereafter, two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud lies in wait in the quarters.

There are gladiatorial opening matches aplenty at this French major.

Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca will play former top-10 player Hugo Hurkacz, while Zverev is taking on another dangerous debutant, American Learner Tien. Djokovic “broke the ice” as it were in winning his first clay court match of the season against former Hungarian No 1 Marton Fucsovics 6-2 6-3 to reach the Geneva quarters.

The Serb is chasing his 100th title before the onset of Roland Garros, to which he is heading desperately short of substantial wins under his belt.

Beating Arnaldi 6-4 6-4 in the Geneva quarters and Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-7 6-1 in the semis will help assuage some of that dented pride.

A matter of huge pride for the WTA is the announcement that the women’s tour will return to Queens Club during the pending grass-court season after a 50-year hiatus.

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has been given a wild card for Queens, as her points continue to plummet.

She lost to American Danielle Collins in Strasbourg, not before calling for a medical time-out (MTO) at 5-0 down in the second set.

Why she couldn’t have waited until the end of that set is disconcerting.

A rule change is required in regard to MTOs blatantly being used as a ploy to break an opponent’s ascendency.

A player uninterrupted in her ascent is American Coco Gauff, who has shot up to No 2 in the WTA rankings after narrowly losing to Pasolini  in the recent Rome final.

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is also on a roll, with 34 main-draw wins this year.

Her focus will switch intently to Roland Garros, which like Sinner, she has never won.

However, the proverbial dark horse in this race will be No 8 Zheng Qinwen, who lest we forget, emulated Djokovic in bringing home Olympic gold on this sacred red turf.