Jannik Sinner’s Wimbledon fitness update comes after worries about tiredness from the French Open.
Jannik Sinner, the world No. 1, recently gave a hint about how he’s feeling ahead of Wimbledon. The 24-year-old Italian is the defending champion and a big favorite to win again, especially since the world No. 2, Carlos Alcaraz, won’t be playing. Alcaraz hurt his wrist back in April and missed the French Open, which was the second big tournament of the year.
Many thought Sinner might win the French Open, too, but he had a tough time with bad cramps and lost early to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the hot Paris weather. Even though he had won big clay tournaments like Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome before, Sinner said he felt dizzy and sick during the match and kept needing help from his trainer, even asking for a medical break.
After the match, Sinner explained, “I felt unwell, my head was spinning, and I had no energy left. I even tried to serve for the match, but I just didn’t have it in me. I let the fourth set go, and then in the fifth, I just couldn’t keep going. I also didn’t sleep well before the match, so I was already struggling.” Alexander Zverev, who’s No. 3 in the world, ended up winning that tournament – his first major.
Since then, Sinner has been getting medical tests in Turin and Milan to figure out what’s been wrong with his health. The results haven’t been shared yet, but Sinner has now said he will get back on the court before Wimbledon, changing his earlier plan. He wasn’t going to play any grass tournaments before Wimbledon and had said he’d skip the Halle Open. But now, he’s cutting his rest time down to three weeks and will join the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic in London from June 23 to 27. Other top players like Britain’s Cameron Norrie and French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli will also be there.
Wimbledon starts on June 29 and goes until July 12. But not everyone has been kind about Sinner’s struggles. Tennis great Andre Agassi said he thinks there’s no excuse for Sinner’s fitness issues during the French Open. Agassi told TNT Sports, “Sinner going out so early was a big surprise. I don’t think he got called out enough. When I played, my body could handle about four hours, even in the heat. But Sinner went from playing five and a half hours in last year’s final to being knocked out in less than two hours because of the heat. There’s a difference between being fit and being ready. I believe that’s an area he can work on. It’s not that he doesn’t work hard or isn’t fit. He was just one game away from the third round, and everyone thought he’d be tough to beat this year.”