Jannik Sinner’s worrying health confession raises Wimbledon concern
Jannik Sinner kicked off his Wimbledon title defence with two battling wins and the question marks over his health refuse to go away.
Playing in his first tournament since his dramatic French Open collapse, Sinner needed five sets to get the better of Miomir Kecmanovic on the opening day of the grass-court Grand Slam.
He then managed to get the job done in three sets against Nuno Borges, but it was far from straightforward as the Portuguese player had his moments early on before Sinner won the first two sets via tie-breakers.
The high temperatures in London once again helped his cause and every time he appears to struggle in hot conditions, minds go back to what happened at Roland Garros when he suffered a shock second-round exit.
Sinner was cruising against Juan Manuel Cerundolo as he was serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but the encounter turned on its head as the Italian ran out of steam and ended up losing 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
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Besides struggling with the heat, Sinner revealed he also felt unwell on the morning of the match and his team sent him for various tests after he left Paris.
He has been given the all-clear, but he has now admitted that what happened at Roland Garros “could happen again”.
Speaking to Italian media after his win over Borges, the four-time Grand Slam winner said: “Yes, we understand [what happened]. It could happen again because in the end, a ‘just like that’ solution isn’t found; it’s a slightly broader issue.
“But yes, it could happen again. We’re doing everything we can to prevent it from happening again, but if it were to happen again, we’d understand at that point that perhaps the path we’re taking isn’t the right one. We’ll see.
“Today I was referring to a more general physical recovery, because yesterday I woke up and my body didn’t feel very good. But that was because of the fall. But then today on the court I felt good, so I can be calm.”
For now, he is safely into the third round where he will face American Jenson Brooksby.
“You can’t play every match perfectly. In my opinion, I served very well. It was difficult to return, and when you don’t have much pace, it’s also difficult to play good tennis when the rallies begin,” he said.
“He pushed well, even with his forehand, and made few mistakes. Perhaps a little hesitant in certain decisions. But then I managed to be a little more aggressive. I’ll talk to the team to better prepare for the next one.”
