Amazement, disappointment and concern for the physical conditions of Jannik Sinner in view of the USA Open but also some perplexities about his estate: the withdrawal of the world number 1 in Cincinnati makes the tennis fans and enthusiasts discuss. A debate I live above all on social media where you ask yourself about the malaise of the world number 1, and the series of physical problems that over time have stopped him on the pitch. Often without an explicit diagnosis.
For the Italian champion, the one on the hot cement of Ohio is however the first retreat in the final and perhaps also for this it makes more noise. The expectation of yet another challenge with Carlos Alcaraz was very high; The disappointment of having assisted only 23 minutes of play is therefore directly proportionate. The social people wonder: retreats but also defeats determined by physical conditions not at the top. The number of athletes’ matches during a year is high but it is also true that this year the South Tyrolean has been stopped three months, from February 9 to May 4, for the Clostebol case. To these months of inactivity is added the long rest after the victory in Wimbledon.
The six retreats
Before today the blue has retired five times out of 377 games played in the ATP circuit. The last time was on June 23, 2023 against Alexander Bublik on Halle grass: he retires after 57 minutes while he is below 7-5, 2-0 for a left leg problem. The black year is 2022: in Sofia in the semifinal against Runes raises the white flag while it is on 5-7 6-4 5-2 for a crooked on the right ankle. Outside the round of 16 of Roland Garros against Andrey Rublev on the score of 6-1 in his favor for a pain in the left knee. In Miami in the quarterfinals while he is under 4-1 against Francisco Cerundolo, after only 22 minutes for the pains caused by blisters on his feet. In 2020 the first professional career from a professional career in the second round of Vienna against Andrey Rublev after nine minutes still for the blisters on his feet. Then there are the lost matches after sudden drops. At the Australian Opers, then won, he had an illness against Holger Rune: providential the 20 ‘of suspension to repair the broken net. In everyone’s memory remains the final at the last Roland Garros, when he recovered two sets from Alcaraz. Before even the final lost in Rome with the Spaniard to the International of Italy, although it should be emphasized that Jannik returned after three months of inactivity.
In any case, Alcaraz fans ironize on Spanish social networks: «But is it always bad against Carlos? Maybe he looks for apologies », some fans write. In 2024 he lost in the quarterfinals in Wimbledon against Medvedev: an 11 -minute stop for tiredness tremors. He did not participate in the Paris 2024 games for a tonsillitis. In Cincinnati, before the final, he also had a decline in the last phase of the first set, however won against the Frenchman Terence Atmane. It certainly influenced the new formula of the American Masters 1000, played on two weeks and with games played in the middle of the afternoon with temperatures widely over 30 degrees. Alexander Zverev also had an illness first in the quarterfinals and then in the semifinal. And Sinner himself, on the eve of the tournament, had underlined that “two weeks of the game certainly please the fans but they are an excessive commitment for athletes”. Criticisms he reiterated after the defeat in the final: “I never played such a hot tournament.” Who knows, however, if the illness accused in the final was determined by the heat or by an intestinal indisposition. Also accuses a strawberry tasted on his birthday cake. Questions still to be dissolved. Now the attention is on participation in the US Open, where he will have to defend the title won last year and the number 1 of the ATP ranking. Thursday there will be the draw, then a few more days before taking the field in the hope, of organizers and enthusiasts, which Sinner has recovered his physical form.