LONDON, June 28: Jannik Sinner said he’s changed his physical workload after his French Open meltdown, when he felt ill and dizzy in a second-round loss.
So, he’s taking it a bit easier? Wrong.
“Much longer sessions — both in the gym and on the court,” he said. “We did everything together but without any breaks. … Now we’ll see how I react on the court.”
Sinner spoke on Saturday — in English and Italian — at Wimbledon as he prepares to defend his singles title. He opens against Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court on Monday, when the temperature is expected to be 25 C.
With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by a wrist injury, Sinner is the leading favorite — just like he was in Paris — to win at the grass-court major.
Following his early exit at Roland Garros, Sinner did take a week off — and did some testing.
“General tests to see health-wise how I was, to be sure that all is OK with the body, which is. All tests were really good,” he said.
And then it was back to work.
Sinner, who has struggled with heat and cramps in the past, said, “We need to practice in hotter conditions. I feel like everywhere where we play is going to be very hot. Every year is getting warmer and warmer. It is a very important topic.”
At the French Open, Sinner came within one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets when he led 5-1 in the third. But amid a Paris heat wave, he struggled with dizziness and was beaten by Juan Manuel Cerundolo 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1.
There’s no quick fix, he added.
“We are happy at the moment with what we are doing. The result we’re not going to see here. It’s a long process. There’s no magic behind it.
“I’m very happy with the work we did in the last two and a half weeks,” Sinner added. “Very long days. I feel well prepared.”
He spoke in Italian about the longer training sessions but added: “I don’t like to talk too much about exactly what we changed, but we changed the physical workload a bit.”
No warmups needed
This week, Sinner said it was always his plan to not do warmup tournaments ahead of Wimbledon.
“If you play a tournament before here, maybe it’s not going the way you would like to, you come here with some doubts,” he said. “If you don’t play any tournament, you don’t have these doubts, you just go and play.
“Last year I lost second round in Halle. I came here and I played very well,” said Sinner, who beat two-time champion Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.
Benefits of being Wimbledon champion
A perk of being a Wimbledon champion is getting an All England Club membership.
“It’s a great honor for me. As I’ve always said, it’s the best tournament we have, the most prestigious, and so having this thing for my whole life is very, very nice,” Sinner said.
He reminded that he’s just 24 years old so probably won’t appreciate the membership until after he retires from playing.
Serena gets Centre Court for Wimbledon return
Where else would she play? Wimbledon has confirmed that Serena Williams’ first match at the grass-court Grand Slam since 2022 will take place on Centre Court on Tuesday evening.
The 44-year-old Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion making a tennis comeback, will face 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia.
The All England Club on Sunday announced the order of play for Day 2.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek opens play on Centre Court on Tuesday (1:30 p.m. local time), in keeping with tradition, against Taylor Townsend. That’s to be followed by Taylor Fritz vs. home favorite Jack Draper – in what is one of the most intriguing men’s first-round matchups. And then Williams-Joint.
Williams had been away from the sport since her farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open but she accepted a wild-card entry to play both singles and doubles – with her sister Venus, who is 46.
Williams’ most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round to Harmony Tan, who was then-ranked 115th. The American great walked away from tennis – she described it as “evolving” away – after losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows.
Michigan-born Joint slipped from No. 53 to No. 87 in the WTA rankings updated on Sunday. (AP)
