After the knockout in Doha, Jannik’s reflections on the next steps: “I’m facing a decline, but I already know how to come back”
He’s human. Take this as good news. Jannik Sinner crashed twice. Down to earth, first in the semifinals at the Australian Open, where he defended the title and on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Doha, defeated by the Czech Mensik, 20 years of power and serves at an average of 210 ten kilometers per hour, but above all no pressure (yet) on his shoulders. It is just the sixth defeat on this surface in the last two years, since Indian Wells 2024 against Carlos Alcaraz, and it makes more noise because the balance is completed with the 97 victories that have kept him at the top of the ranking for over a year. It is a moment that he himself defines with Sinnerian calmness and equal sincerity as “A small down, a decline”. A bad moment, one of those that all tennis players face during their career and almost physiological after two years always lived to the fullest: “Periods like this can happen, every player goes through them – said the world number 2 after his premature exit in Qatar -. I’m sure that the work will pay off and the results will come. I’ve lived through worse periods”. These are the words that most hearten the many followers who set their alarms to watch his matches, who follow him on TV, on their cell phones, at work, at home, in the pizzeria and even in church. The cult of Sinner does not give up even in difficult times. The waste of Australia and that disappointment in the semi-final in the fifth against Novak Djokovic has once again highlighted the suffering of the Wimbledon champion when the matches stretch beyond four hours.
physicist
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However, this was not the case with the challenge with Mensik, which was very physical but not too long, lasting two hours and ten minutes: “I was fine. I didn’t suffer from the humidity. Physically I’m working, I had some problems after Australia – he admits -, but now I feel quite good again. In Melbourne I was a bit subdued, this time I tried to push myself a little more. I still have to find a balance in this too, it’s an aspect that can give me a lot in the future”. Before flying to Qatar a week earlier than expected due to bad weather in Monte Carlo, Sinner had gone to J Medical to have some checks which did not reveal any particular problems. Useful data to understand how to plan physical work with Umberto Ferrara also in the coming weeks. In fact, from here to Indian Wells, Sinner is already planning to get to work: “Obviously one of my biggest goals is Roland Garros. But the road is still long – he continued -. Now I will play Indian Wells, where I am used to struggling a bit, let’s see what will happen. In Miami I have always played well, then, of course, the clay season will begin. But I wouldn’t just look at the results, rather at how I am playing and improving. I am trying to add a couple of new things, and we need to continue with the work. Little by little, hoping to be ready for the next appointment.”
comfort zone
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“So many little things,” he has said almost every day since the beginning of the year. Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill aim to make Sinner an increasingly unpredictable player who does not give his opponent points of reference. A job that may have taken Jannik out of his comfort zone, in a transition phase that “weakened” him in the characteristics that often made him unbeatable with that pounding from the baseline that more than one opponent has defined as suffocating. Sinner remains calm and confident on the path designed by his team: “I lost a couple of matches, great matches, and it was fantastic to be part of it – he concluded -. I am aware that I can play better tennis, but I must always remember what I have done in the last three years, winning many matches and losing few. I have already had difficult moments, I know how to come back”.
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