By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday August 11, 2024
Saturday’s loss to Andrey Rublev in Montreal marked Jannik Sinner’s second loss on a hard court, and fifth overall, in 2024. During the 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 defeat to the Russian, Sinner looked out of sorts physically.
He never saw the trainer but appeared to be struggling with the same hip injury that forced him to pull out of his home tournament in Rome this spring. Several times he was seen testing the hip area, and after many points Sinner looked fatigued, hands on knees, and head bowed, as if he was out of energy.
Afterwards the World No.1 told reporters that he needed more time to get back into shape after missing some time due to tonsillitis. Sinner, who hadn’t played since his quarterrfinal loss to Daniil Medvedev in Wimbledon, said he simply needs time to get back into peak shape.
“It's all okay,” he said when asked if his hip was an issie. “I think these kind of things are a bit more mental than physical for sure.
“Even if I know that my body is not as strained as I would like to because of last week, but it was also mentally for sure.”
Sinner drops to 44-5 on the season. He says he has a lot of work to do in order to be at his peak for this year’s US Open, which begins on August 26.
At the Cincinnati Open, which starts Monday, he is the top seed and slated to face either Tallon Griekspoor or a qualifier in the second round, after a bye.
He says he likely won’t be in perfect shape in Ohio, either.
“Let's hope to get back in shape,” he said. “Obviously now making miracles in the next five days, it's not possible, but being ready for Cincinnati and 100 percent I don't think is possible, but then for the US Open, for sure I want to be back, which is also the main event for the U.S. swing, last Grand Slam of the year. So I'm aiming for that.”