Coach Simone Vagnozzi Reveals Whether Jannik Sinner Plans to Play Madrid Open

Jannik Sinner is currently participating in the Monte-Carlo Masters to bid for his career’s second title on clay. After breezing past Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-0, Sinner set up his third-round clash with Tomas Machac.

Before the start of the tournament, there was uncertainty over Sinner’s participation because of his back-to-back wins in the Sunshine Double tournaments. The 24-year-old defeated Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final and then beat Jiri Lehecka in the Miami Open final, becoming the eighth man to complete the Sunshine Double.

The next tournament, where several top players are expected to play, is the Barcelona Open, but Sinner’s name is not on the entry list. The Madrid Open is the next Masters 1000 tournament on clay and is set to start on April 21.

Last year, Sinner had skipped both the two Masters 1000s in Monte Carlo and Madrid due to his doping ban. Because of the schedule, there is uncertainty over Sinner’s participation in all clay-court tournaments this year, but his coach Simone Vagnozzi revealed that the World No.2 will be playing in the Spanish capital. The lone clay-court title that Sinner has so far lifted is the 2022 Croatia Open by beating none other than Carlos Alcaraz, who denied him the win in last year’s Italian Open final and the French Open final.

Of course, yes. Then we’ll see how the tournament goes. Madrid is on our calendar for now, but we’ll see how that tournament goes, see how it gets to the end. On the physical side, I don’t think there’s any doubt about his stamina. Between Doha and Indian Wells, we’ve done a long preparation, so let’s say we’re pretty well-prepared. I think it’s more of a mental factor than a physical one, because these tournaments last two weeks, you have to be on top of things for practically a month.

Simone Vagnozzi said on Sky Sports

In Madrid, Sinner has never made it past the quarterfinals, reaching the stage in 2024. In Monte Carlo, Sinner is a two-time semifinalist (2023 and 2024).

Ugo Humbert calls Jannik Sinner phenomenal after his defeat

Jannik Sinner registered his 13th consecutive match win by dismantling Ugo Humbert. The Frenchman, who now trails 1-2 in the head-to-head matchups against Sinner, explained what makes it so difficult to play against the South Tyrol native.

I held on for almost a set, then he started to find his rhythm, hitting harder and harder. And it became a bit more complicated. The second set was tough… That’s why he’s so phenomenal, in the areas he plays, his ball contact, the way he positions himself. It’s very difficult to see where he’s playing, and I also found his ball quite heavy. In fact, he hits hard but with a lot of confidence around the net; there are very few moments where you feel he’s just trying to hit hard.

Ugo Humbert said (H/T: L’Equipe)

The Monte-Carlo Masters is greatly important for Sinner in terms of ranking. He will be guaranteed the No.1 spot if he wins the tournament.

Because he had skipped the Sunshine Double events last year, he gained 2,000 points by winning them this year. And he will gain 1,000 points if he wins in The Principality.

Carlos Alcaraz, who lost both the Indian Wells and the Miami Open without reaching the final, has 1,000 points to defend in the tournament. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has 4,300 points to defend on the clay swing this year because last year, he finished three big events in his favor (Monte-Carlo Masters, Italian Open, and the French Open).

Also read: Novak Djokovic Expresses Desire to Retire at the 2028 LA Olympics With Serbian Flag

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