The fear of arriving at Foro Italico excessively packed by the days of hard preparation after the semi-final in Monte Carlo but also a certain greed for points (1000 up for grabs in Madrid, and without Djokovic: a very tempting opportunity) and – it’s not a crime – dollars ask Jannik Sinner to pay the bill in the superlative season of 30 matches played since the beginning of the year (28 won, 2 lost).
The retreat in Spain turns on a warning light in the engine of the Italian world number two: the right hip problem is there and is dragging on from the Principality, it is not serious but must be monitored carefully so that it does not become recurrent or even chronic, for information contact to Andy Murray. Playing on it in tournaments didn’t help: the discomfort felt on the morning of the semi-final with Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo became an inflammation, which emerged against Kotov, ignited by the 2.10′ of wrestling with Khachanov, the Madrid round of 16 match won in a comeback that Jannik would never have let go, at the cost not to do any good.
On Wednesday morning he got up with pain in his hip, postponed training in view of the match against Auger-Aliassime, then raised the white flag: «I’m stopping on the advice of the doctors so as not to make things worse. I’ll do some tests to understand more». A resonance, yesterday, as soon as he returned home to Monte Carlo, absolute rest until (at least) tomorrow, the promise to Federtennis to fly to Rome on Sunday, to start training again at the Foro Italico. If 96 hours of stoppage (with travel involved) will be enough to give Sinner back the belief that he can be the man to beat at the Internationals (followed closely by Paris, Wimbledon and the Olympics, i.e. the heart of the season), it is to be seen.
Tennis courts, as well as pits, are full of hindsight. Madrid, already included in the calendar with a question mark next to it, was evidently not to be played; we can’t even say if Jannik had been in perfect physical condition. The altitude alters the rebound and speed of the ball, in Rome he will find very different conditions. But coach Vagnozzi thought it was a good idea to put matches on red under the soles, the reflection was the team’s but Jannik always has the final say, as he wanted to go to Madrid. A rare (hopefully venial) sin of lack of lucidity, a mistake from which to learn: the thought of being able to reach the Forum one step ahead of King Djokovic in the rankings prevailed over a healthy wait-and-see attitude.
The result is that, however Rome goes, Djoker will arrive at Roland Garros as no.1, while Sinner will have to live with the thought of his hip for a while (exactly like Alcaraz with the forearm nail; Medvedev also retired yesterday ), because even if you manage the pain, the performance drops, and the head wanders: forehand while running, lateral slides to the right, all the tennis (except the serve) of an athlete who plays so frontal to the net is impacted by a joint that is not at 100%. There is also a theme of physiological growth and work in the gym: carrying around the extra centimeters (he is now 1.93 meters tall) and the kilograms of muscle gained last year (at least 4) is not a given, the changes at that age must be metabolised, woe is it if imbalances are created in this phase very delicate.
Roma, which awaits Jannik like a Messiah and has set up an order service for him like the fifth Beatles, is worried but tries to be optimistic, like all the fans. The plan, before the forfeit to Madrid, was to make Sinner debut next Friday in daytime, dreaming of a second match on Sunday evening, in prime time. At this point any request of the golden child will be fulfilled (starting with a debut on Saturday), knowing full well that extra-tennis distractions are not welcome. We expect a green light from Monte Carlo: today the only certainty is that the Sinner team will do everything to put Jannik in a position to face Rome as a great protagonist. It requires patience (in all senses).
