What is happening to Jannik Sinner ‘is not normal’, says Italian great
Paolo Bertolucci insists “there’s something wrong” with Jannik Sinner as he dismissed suggestions that the world No 1 struggles to play in hot conditions.
Sinner was the hot favourite heading to Roland Garros as he arrived in Paris on the back of winning five consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles with three of them coming on clay as he lifted trophies in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.
With two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ruled out due to injury, many expected the Italian would comfortably win the title, but he was stunned by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round despite being in cruise control in the third set.
Sinner was 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 up against the world No 56 and then suffered a shocking collapse as he only won two more games before going down 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
After the match, the 24-year-old revealed he didn’t feel well on the morning of the match and while some have suggested playing in hot weather is his kryptonite, he insisted, “I wasn’t struggling because of the heat alone”.
And Bertolucci also countered speculation that he has a “heat” problem as he pointed to the fact that Sinner won back-to-back Australian Open titles during the summer in Melbourne.
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“I don’t like playing doctor from 500 km away; I’ve already read thousands of comments where everyone has given their own diagnosis,” he said on Foot Fault. “Some are petrol station attendants, others plumbers, others engineers, but as soon as they take a look, they’ve already made their diagnosis.
“With 30 degrees and 25 per cent humidity, how on earth did he manage to win twice on hard courts in Australia and at Indian Wells? You’ll have to explain that to me. With 30 degrees and 25% humidity, that’s a perfectly normal temperature; even amateurs and enthusiasts play in those conditions all summer long.”
But former world No 12 Bertolucci concedes that things are not adding up and Sinner and his team are not offering answers.
The Italian added: “What’s the problem there? So it couldn’t have been heatstroke, because he went back to the changing rooms, they took his temperature and he didn’t have a fever. Heatstroke causes a fever!
“His blood pressure was perfect: these two factors already give some clues, but I’m not a doctor. He, the doctors treating him and his team know what’s going on. We now know there’s something wrong and that the lad has been carrying this around for some time already, because things are happening that aren’t normal.”
