Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe on Sunday
Sinner is most likely to upset the applecart after the Italian's run to the Canadian Open title this month
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos once again proved to be the man for the big occasion as he converted a fiercely debated penalty to help his side to a 3-1 win over rivals Barcelona at an empty Camp Nou in La Liga on Saturday.
Penpix of the top men's contenders at the 2021 French Open which begins on Sunday:
Robert Lewandowski and substitute Pablo Torre each scored twice to help leaders Barcelona thrash visitors Sevilla 5-1 in LaLiga on Sunday in a confidence boost for Hansi Flick's side ahead of key clashes against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
They were each handed a torch in the Jardin des Tuileries after several top sporting names, including French soccer great Zinedine Zidane, Spain's 14-times French Open tennis champion Rafael Nadal, American 23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams and Romanian gymnastics great Nadia Comaneci.
Fears that Rafael Nadak may miss the French Open grew after he pulled out of this week's Italian Open.
Barcelona top the LaLiga standings with 15 points, four ahead of Real Madrid and Villarreal. Girona are seventh on seven points.
Empoli beat Juventus 4-2 on penalties to advance to their first ever Coppa Italia semi-finals on Wednesday after a resilient performance helped them to hold the defending champions to a 1-1 draw in regular time.
Jude Bellingham converted a penalty and Kylian Mbappe added another goal before halftime to spur Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Getafe.
India's Prajnesh Gunnesweran won his encounter while Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal lost their respective men's singles opening round matches at the French Open Qualifiers.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has said he considered leaving the club when he was investigated for tax fraud in 2013, saying he felt "badly treated" by Spain.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique blamed the club's pre-season trips to the United States and Japan for their shaky start to the season.
Leverkusen's Schick scores hat-trick in comeback win over Heidenheim.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr scored a hat-trick to help the LaLiga champions snap a two-game winless run in all competitions.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic said Carlos Alcaraz is the man to beat on clay and is one of the top title contenders for the French Open.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas were knocked out of the Madrid Masters after being crushed in straight sets in the opening round of the men's double event here last evening.
Nadal, a Real fan despite his uncle Miguel Angel making over 200 appearances for arch-rivals Barcelona, was seen speaking to umpire Mohamed Lahyani about his team's 0-0 home draw with Real Betis on Saturday and was less than impressed with what he saw.
Real Madrid showed their character by beating Barcelona 2-0 in Sunday's top-of-the-table 'Clasico', leapfrogging their rivals at the La Liga summit after a week in which their pride had taken a beating at home and in Europe. Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr scored the opener in the 71st minute with a strike that deflected off Gerard Pique, flummoxing goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who had made some jaw-dropping saves, and substitute Mariano added the second in added time.
A second-half double from Antoine Griezmann earned Atletico Madrid a stunning 4-3 comeback home win over Sevilla in LaLiga on Sunday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as a rejuvenated Barcelona gave a football masterclass to inflict a humiliating 4-0 defeat on rivals Real Madrid on Sunday.
Alcaraz was impressive in his first Grand Slam match since his US Open triumph last year
Take a look at the five top contenders for the men's singles title at the French Open:
World number one Andy Murray beat Romanian Marius Copil 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old, who will be hoping to claim a first Grand Slam title at this year's French Open, said he has been trying to play with the same mindset he had during his run to the 2021 Roland Garros final.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer believes that Rafael Nadal is still the favourite to win the French Open next month despite the Spaniard's recent struggles to regain form.
Tsitsipas made short work of Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud as he seized a third Monte Carlo Masters title in four years with a 6-1, 6-4 victory on Sunday.
Zverev and Rublev among dark horses for French Open
Images from Sunday's action in LaLiga and Serie A.
Piotr Zielinski converted two penalties for Inter Milan as they played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Juventus.
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick and had a hand in two more goals as Argentina crushed Bolivia 6-0 in South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
Ousmane Dembele endured a rough start to his Barcelona career but the French winger appears to be finding his feet at a crucial time in the season.
'We were happy with the win because we played a great game until the 88th minute, when two lapses in concentration led to two goals and we had to suffer a bit more than we should have.'
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
'If I feel ready, I'm going to try to be there and fight for the things I have been fighting for the last 15 years, (even) if now seems impossible.'
Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal resumed training on Monday after four weeks out due a stress fracture in his rib, a month out from the French Open where the Spaniard will bid for a record-extending 14th title.
Spain began their Women's World Cup campaign in scintillating fashion by beating Costa Rica
