Greg Rusedski explains why he’s ‘fearful’ for Jannik Sinner’s Wimbledon hopes
Jannik Sinner is yet to set the world alight at Wimbledon, despite booking his place in the third round of the Grand Slam.
Sinner has beaten Miomir Kecmanovic and Nuno Borges in his first two matches at Wimbledon, but he has not played his best tennis.
The World No 1 has suffered woes on his forehand and he’s been broken several times on his serve already, which is rare for the Italian.
After watching his first two matches at the Grand Slam, Greg Rusedski has shared the key reason why he remains ‘concerned’ for the defending champion.
Speaking on Off Court with Greg Rusedski, the British No 1 admitted to being worried about the upcoming hot weather that is set to take over Wimbledon in its second week.
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“The concern I have for Sinner is week two, the temperature goes hot, really hot like it was last week,” said Rusedski. “By then, he’ll probably be in the fourth round. He’ll be flowing. He’ll be ready to go. But the question marks will be, can he manage the heat and the temperature?
“That’s the thing I think he’s most fearful about. He’s not a natural grasscourt player, even though he’s won Wimbledon. It’s the surface that has taken him a little bit more time to get used to. So I’m not concerned about his tennis. Every round he’s going to get better.
“He’s going to build like Djokovic has done in the years past. Second week, we’ll find out if he’s found a solution to the heat problem. On day one, after his match, I said that Sinner was still my favourite for the tournament. I said Djokovic was my number two.
“They’ve got to face each other potentially in the semi-finals. And I said after he won that first match and managed to get through it. Sometimes these great champions need a bit of a battle to feel their way into a tournament and I wasn’t that impressed with his level to be honest with you today.”
Like many pundits, Rusedski has not been impressed by what he’s seen from the World No 1 so far at the Grand Slam.
After watching his match against Borges, Rusedski said: “It was lower than you would expect from Sinner, but he got the win and he’s through to another match and I anticipate that he’s going to face Novak and that will be very interesting if they both get through because Novak was on fire.
“When he mistimes his shots, which he was doing today, because he’s got such a fast swing, when he mistimes his shots, they go very wrong. And he’s not a player like an [Carlos] Alcaraz, who has a massive armory of different shots that he can hit. Alcaraz can mix up.
“He can he can moonball, he can chip the ball, he can drop shot, he can hit heavy, he can hit flat. Generally plays slightly more two-dimensionally.
“And I think sometimes when the ball’s traveling fast and he’s going big with his shots, when he’s mistiming it, it’s a little bit more tricky for him to find his way back into the match.
“But he gets the wins. And I think the mental side of his game is his biggest strength. Showed that again today, either even through winning ugly.”
Sinner will next play Jenson Brooksby in the third round, which is set to take place on Court One during Friday, July 3rd’s order of play.
