Against Shelton the blue was massaged in the third set: the magic drink also came to the rescue
Massages, gherkins and… head, above all head, what makes Jannik Sinner so special: the blue has weapons outside and inside himself to resist on every occasion, even when you immediately need to loosen the muscles that tend to stiffen. No alarms, no particularly drawn faces or tremors, like on the very tough day against the Dane Holger Rune (beaten in four sets in the round of 16) but also yesterday the Italian had to go through a moment of physical difficulty. A cramp in his right thigh, immediately after breaking Shelton for a decisive break, taking a 3-2 lead in the third set. It was the result of the tension of the moment, as the Italian himself admitted already at the end of the match (“Ben also suffered in his legs…”, said Jannik), but some waste comes from afar, given that the last one was not the simplest week of my career from a psycho-physical point of view and always with high temperatures. Sinner overcame everything with momentum and without apparent consequences. Today he will return to training to better prepare for the final against Zverev and, even more than usual, part of the session will be done without a racket: in addition to muscle relaxation, the batteries must be recharged to 100% by imagining a high-voltage battle against the German.
hands and juice
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The moment was crucial, the American had just thrown his racket in frustration when Jannik was massaged on court at 3-2 in the 3rd set right at the point where the muscle had hardened. At the same time, from his box, Ulises Badio remotely guided his colleague’s movement on the pitch: he indicated with his hands how to loosen the precious muscles that the Argentine physiotherapist has been familiar with for a few months. Not only the manual treatment, which is decisive in these cases, but Sinner also drank from the water bottle on which the TV zoomed: a greenish liquid, the precious (and according to many disgusting) “pickle juice”, the juice of gherkins, the ones used in pickles. It’s the same one drunk by both him and Alcaraz in their battle to the last cramp in the endless semi-final at Roland Garros (in that case, the Spaniard prevailed in the fifth set). The drink, which Medvedev called “disgusting but useful”, helps reduce the duration of muscle stiffening by more than 30 seconds. The sodium in pickle juice can block the nervous reflex that causes cramps. Without underestimating another aspect, dehydration, another cause of spasm: green juice contains potassium and magnesium, which are crucial for maintaining the body’s electrolyte balance by helping to rehydrate. This is also why the bottle is always next to Jannik and perhaps he will use it to toast in the event of a consecutive encore in Melbourne.
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