Jannik Sinner Shares How He Recovered From French Open Heartbreak As He Starts Preparation for Halle Open

World No.1 Jannik Sinner will kick-start his campaign on grass at the Halle Open to defend his title.

Jannik Sinner Shares How He Recovered From French Open Heartbreak As He Starts Preparation for Halle Open

Jannik Sinner (Image via X/The Sinner Times)

Jannik Sinner is in Halle to bid for his second grass-court title and to defend his crown. It’s his first tournament on grass following the clay swing where he played two finals, losing both, to his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz.

Before this season, Sinner had never progressed to the French Open final. He reached the semifinal last year but lost to Alcaraz in five sets.

Sinner, after knocking out 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, took a 2-0 lead against Alcaraz in the final. He was on the verge of winning but he squandered three match points and Alcaraz made an impressive comeback to defend his title.

The 23-year-old was chasing his third straight Major title but lost the final of this category for the first time. After the heartbreak, Sinner flew to Italy, to his hometown in South Tyrol to rest and recover with his family and friends.

After Paris, it was quiet, very quiet. I went to visit my parents, we had a barbecue, I met up with my friends, we played a little table tennis, normal things. It’s exactly what I needed after a stressful tournament, but I always like to be with people who know me. I’m lucky to have people around me who love me a lot, who are honest and nothing.

Jannik Sinner said during his pre-tournament press conference in Halle

It was Alcaraz’s fifth straight victory over the Italian and he now leads 8-4 in the head-to-head encounters. Alcaraz is also 5-0 in Grand Slam finals and has become the third youngest man to reach the five Majors tally.

Sinner has now reached every final of the tournaments he played. After defending his Australian Open title by beating Alexander Zverev, Sinner served his three-month doping ban. The Italian Open was his comeback tournament and there he reached the final for the first time but lost in straight sets to the 22-year-old.

Jannik Sinner had sleepless nights after his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner is trying to forget the negatives and is focusing only on the positives after his French Open heartbreak. During the pre-tournament press conference, Sinner admitted that his failure to convert the three championship points haunted him at night.

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (3)
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Univers Tennis)

I’ve had a few sleepless nights because of that. But yes, I think it’s getting better every day. My family is behind me, all my friends, and the circle of friends I have. That’s the most important thing for me. They’re doing well, so outside of tennis, that’s an even more important part of my life.

Had Sinner won the title, he would have become the first Italian man to lift the French Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976. He thinks playing a tournament will help him a lot. Sinner lifted the Halle Open last year by beating Hubert Hurkacz. At Wimbledon- where he is a semifinalist (reached in 2023)- Sinner lost in the quarterfinals to Daniil Medvedev last year.

Sinner won’t have a chance to meet Alcaraz before Wimbledon. The former is in Halle but the latter has signed up for the Queen’s Club Championships where he won the title in 2023. Alcaraz will bid for his fourth title on grass, and will enter Wimbledon as the two-time defending champion.

In the previous two seasons, the World No.2 denied Novak Djokovic his eighth Wimbledon by beating him in the finals. Sinner and Alcaraz will only meet in Wimbledon if they both reach the final as they will be the top two seeds.

Sinner sits on top of the rankings table with 10,880 points, while Alcaraz has 8,850. World No.3 Alexander Zverev, with 6,385 points, won’t be able to topple Alcaraz from the second spot even if he wins the warm-up events before the grass-court Major.

Also read: Alexander Zverev Aims to Reach Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s Level by Pushing to the Limits