John McEnroe explains how he would beat French Open 2026 favourite Jannik Sinner - 'I'd start by praying!'

"Seriously, that’s how good he is right now," McEnroe claimed, as Sinner prepares for Roland-Garros - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max - with his eyes fixated on a fifth Grand Slam.

The 24-year-old recently completed the career Golden Masters when he became the first Italian to claim victory in Rome as his clay swing continued perfectly after wins in Monte-Carlo and Madrid.

He comes into the tournament as the firm favourite, especially following the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz, who beat him in one of the all-time great major finals in Paris last season.

Sinner will kickstart his bid for a maiden Roland-Garros crown against home player Clement Tabur on Monday, May 25.

Asked how he would genuinely look to overcome Sinner, McEnroe had an idea but warned of how challenging it would be.

"You’d have to find ways to get into his head," he told TNT Sports. "Which is extremely difficult. He’s a great kid and he knows opponents will try that.

"His wingspan is huge, so you’d need to use short angles, drop shots and bring him forward, especially on clay, where the first step can slip.

"You don’t want to fall behind in rallies. You might need to take bigger risks on the return. His serve has improved a lot, so you have to decide whether to stand back or step in and attack the first ball.

"And if it’s hot, maybe the heat affects him - light-skinned players like us feel it more."

Although McEnroe suggested that players try to "get into his head," Jim Courier claimed that Sinner's "mentality" was his biggest and most important asset.

"I think his ability to stay focused and keep his concentration - and I'm talking within the matches, in the little moments in the matches - that he was able to compartmentalise and play as well as he did when he had the drug suspension hanging over him, when none of us knew that that was going on, must have been incredibly stressful," Courier told TNT Sports.

"But he was still able to perform. So his ability to use his mind as a super-weapon, I think, is his biggest strength."

Courier, who once occupied Sinner's world No. 1 spot, even went as far as to say that his mental strength was up there with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

"Yeah, I think in so many ways it's not just his game that he's borrowed from them, it's also his mindset and his mentality," he said.

"And I think the coaching teams that he has had around him, from Riccardo Piatti and his team to the current team with Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, I think there's an incredible amount of experience in how to help a player set himself up to be able to survive all the rigours of not just the on-court, but the off-court pressures that come with being where he is, which is the top of the mountain.

"So I think he's right in that conversation as far as the mentally toughest that we've seen."

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TNT Sports is the exclusive French Open broadcaster in the UK and Ireland. Coverage of every court will be available to stream live on HBO Max