Jannik Sinner: «The lesson? Rest is important”
(Gaia Piccardi) “It hurts. To me and to the fans. But it happens. I will turn 23 in August: I will play in Rome for the next ten years, at least.”
It was supposed to be Jannik Sinner’s party, awaited in the capital as the fifth Beatles. And yet there he is, sitting dejectedly in the Fitp lounge at the Foro Italico next to the president of the Federtennis Angelo Binaghi, who promises him support even in bad times (“Siding with Jannik when he wins the Australian Open is too easy”), grim as ever we had never seen it.
The day after the announcement of his withdrawal from the Italian Internationals, the world number 2 is at the Foro Italico: the attempt is to spread optimism with the press, sponsors and fans, an operation that was half successful.
The reconstruction of the right hip injury, first and foremost. The problem emerged well before the Master 1000 in Madrid, Jannik confirms: «In Monte Carlo I felt a little tired after the American swing: next year we will evaluate whether to play in the Principality or not. I like to play, I would like to always do it. Then in Madrid there were ups and downs, I realized that the situation was strange: with Kotov I felt pain, on the eve of the round of 16 match against Khachanov I felt better but still I knew something was wrong. The day after the match with Khachanov (i.e. returned to base, in Monte Carlo ed) an MRI was done which revealed that something was not right. Following this examination the decision was made to stop. Other tests in Monte Carlo which pushed me to make the difficult decision to withdraw from Rome, which for me, in front of the Italian fans, would have been the most special tournament of the year.”
The season is not spoiled, according to Jannik, on the contrary: “«It was good, it remains good». Then the team’s official defense, a leader’s position: «Some injuries can be prevented, others cannot. We have done a great job so far. Last year I played the entire season without injuries. We learn and move forward. I don’t see this stop as a defeat. If there are things we can do better, we will do them.” What is the lesson to be learned? (long silence): «I realize that rest is very important, even if you don’t touch the racket for a couple of days. After Monte Carlo I stopped for five days, and I felt good. Then in Madrid the situation got worse.”
The recovery phase in view of the next appointments it has already begun but the period remains to be quantified. The response was indispensable, initially: «It’s necessary, we’ll see from next week onwards how to work on the hip, we still have to define some things». Throw away the look at Roland Garros (starting on May 27th) is perhaps premature, but some certainties – alas – are already present: «The preparation for Paris will not be optimal – says Sinner, a realist -: we are quite tight in terms of time. I will give my all to be as competitive as possible. Of course, arriving in Paris without matches doesn’t make things any easier… The change of surface had never given me particular physical problems. For now I’m paying attention to my movements, I’m doing very low intensity work, today there are questions I can’t answer, I’ll have more clarity later: Paris, three out of five, I’ll only play if I’m in condition.” So no certainty, today, of being at the start at the Bois de Boulogne.
Try to look ahead (“«I cared a lot about Rome, which was also important for the ranking points. But now all this is secondary. The objective remains the Finals in Turin, to play in front of the Italian public after not being able to do so here» ), he does not wish to go into detail about the hip problem, which is not trivial (“Let’s say we thought it wasn’t a serious issue but instead the tests showed that there was something wrong. I don’t want to say what”), he tries to be reassuring (“We have everything under control”) with a however: “If I can’t solve it 100%, I’ll stay longer. I don’t want to throw away my career. I’m in no hurry. Taking care of the body is much more important than everything else.” Finally he absolves himself: «It is not always a given that if someone gets hurt they have done wrong things. I think we did everything right. If I had to go back I wouldn’t know what to do differently. Injuries are part of the game: I hope to return soon, and stronger.”
Jannik Sinner will remain in Rome also on Tuesday to please the brands that believe in him. Nobody intends to stop trusting his talent and his will, and perhaps the time has come to suspend the arithmetic calculations for overtaking King Djokovic in the rankings, at this point the main favorite of the Italian Internationals, ruminations at this moment not very current. The priority is to heal, in the times that his body will dictate. Madrid remains a bad choice: haste is never a good advisor. Adelante, with judgment.
