Roger Federer’s former coach explains why Jannik Sinner could struggle at US Open
Jannik Sinner could find it “difficult to regain top form” ahead of the US Open if he needs a full week to recover from the illness that struck him down at the Cincinnati Open.
The world No 1 started feeling unwell the day before his ATP Masters 1000 final against Carlos Alcaraz in Ohio and was still under the weather on the day of the match, but opted to take to court.
However, the match lasted only 23 minutes as the Italian retired while trailing 0-5 in the opening set.
Sinner was then due to fly to New York for the US Open mixed doubles event, but eventually pulled out of the tournament, raising concerns over his US Open title defence.
There has since been a positive update from his coach Darren Cahill as he says the four-time Grand Slam winner is due to return to practice courts soon and Ivan Ljubicic, who coached tennis great Roger Federer from 2016 until his retirement in 2022, says the no longer Sinner needs to rest, the more difficult it becomes to be in top shape at Flushing Meadows.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, which was transcribed by Ubi Tennis, Ljubicic said: “If he recovers in 2-3 days, there won’t be any setbacks. If, however, he has to rest for the entire week, then it becomes difficult to regain the form needed to win a Slam.”
He added: “Even though Jannik will have more manageable opponents in the early rounds, the distance of three out of five sets, the heat, and the humidity of Flushing Meadows could cause him to lose a lot of energy.”
Sinner has had various health and fitness concerns over the past few months, with some suggesting he is “fragile”, but Ljubicic has a different view.
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The former world No 3 said: “For me, these are unrelated cases. Jannik had a hip problem that he fixed, then he was just unlucky: the fall on his elbow, the alleged virus. It doesn’t mean his body is fragile at all.”
Despite his health concerns, there is no doubt that Sinner will be one of the favourites to win the US Open with Alcaraz also at the top of the list.
The two have shared the last seven Grand Slams titles and they also appeared in the two most recent finals with Alcaraz winning the French Open crown and Sinner walking away with the Wimbledon title.
“Rightly not counting Cincinnati, Alcaraz leads 5-2 in their head-to-head matches on hard courts,” the Croatian said. “At the same time, Sinner plays his best on this surface. All things considered, I’d say they’d start on equal terms, especially since their matches are always very close.
“They’re certainly clearly ahead of everyone else; I’d be surprised if they didn’t make it to the final, with Jannik’s health still a question mark.”
