Jannik Sinner becomes world number one and reaches French Open semi-finals

Jannik Sinner is in the semi-finals at Roland Garros (Christophe Ena/AP)

Jannik Sinner became world number one without knowing it as he reached the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time.

While the Italian was beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets, Novak Djokovic withdrew from the tournament with a knee injury.

Djokovic’s departure means Sinner will rise above the Serbian to the top of the rankings when they are updated on Monday.

The 22-year-old, who is the first man from Italy to be world number one, sank Bulgarian veteran Dimitrov 6-2 6-4 7-6 (3).

Too good from Sinner ✊#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Lingp1E2Iz

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2024

“It means a lot to me for sure,” he said. “It’s not the way we all were expecting actually. He had two very long matches, tough matches, five sets, so it’s tough. The first one he finished really late also.

“You know, it’s tough also for the tournament. Novak retiring, it’s always tough.

“Talking about myself, I am very happy about this achievement. It’s a lot of work we put in daily. It’s a daily routine. Obviously I’m happy to have this number.

“In two days there is a very important match for me, the semi-finals, so I’m focused about that at the moment. But, yes, of course, very happy to have this number now.”