Fabio Fognini Backs Jannik Sinner to Bounce Back from Australian Open Disappointment

Jannik Sinner is seeking to win the Qatar Open for the first time in his career.

Fabio Fognini Backs Jannik Sinner to Bounce Back from Australian Open Disappointment

Jannik Sinner, Fabio Fognini (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, ESPN)

In Short
  • Fabio Fognini supports Jannik Sinner's ability to recover from his Australian Open loss to Novak Djokovic.
  • Sinner is competing at the Qatar Open, aiming for his first title in the tournament.
  • Fognini believes Lorenzo Musetti has the potential to break into the top 5 of the ATP rankings.

Former Italian player Fabio Fognini has revealed that Jannik Sinner‘s disappointing run at the Australian Open should not be taken seriously. The Italian star failed to win his fifth Grand Slam in Melbourne and was denied his third consecutive Australian Open, having won the championship in 2024 and 2025.

Sinner had entered the Australian Open as the favorite to win the title after producing one of the best runs of his career late last year. The 24-year-old claimed four of his last five tournaments in 2025, including the ATP Finals in Turin. Also, he had an extraordinary hard-court win percentage, unlike any his rivals have enjoyed in recent years.

However, he had the best start to the Melbourne Grand Slam, winning his first two matches easily, before producing a comeback to beat Eliot Spizzirri in the third round after struggling with the heat intensity in Melbourne. In the semi-finals, Sinner faced his rival Novak Djokovic, and was tipped to win the match in straight sets.

He had defeated Djokovic five consecutive times in the past two seasons, and all their meetings last year ended in straight sets in Sinner’s favor. But Djokovic produced one of his most memorable performances on tour, beating the Italian No.1 in five sets after four hours at the Rod Laver Arena. Nonetheless, Djokovic lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Grand Slam event.

Anyway, Sinner is back on tour at the Qatar Open, where he’s seeking to win the tournament for the first time in his career. The No.2 seed produced a dominant performance to win his opening match against Tomas Machac. Fognini, who has been a strong supporter of Sinner, revealed in an interview with Ubitennis that the Italian star will rebound in Doha:

He lost to the strongest player in history. Let’s not make a drama out of it. I know Jannik, he’ll restart on the right foot. Nobody had Djokovic winning against Sinner in a Slam semifinal. Champions can do anything and he once again showed his value. He [Alcaraz] and Jannik are two predestined players, completely different from each other. They are starting to write important pages in our sport, and they have many years ahead of them.

Fognini retired from professional tennis last July after competing at the Wimbledon Championships, where he delivered a notable performance against Carlos Alcaraz in the first round. The former ATP player has now transitioned into a public and ambassadorial role for the Tenerife Challenger in his home country.

Fabio Fognini believes Lorenzo Musetti can be among the top 5 players in the men’s circuit

Over the past two seasons, Lorenzo Musetti has begun to prove that he can compete with the top players on tour. Last month, he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career but was forced to retire from the match against Novak Djokovic despite leading two sets to love.

Lorenzo Musetti US Open 2025
Lorenzo Musetti (image via ATP)

He has established himself in the top 10 of the ATP rankings and reached the semi-finals of the French Open last year. During the aforementioned interview, Fabio Fognini revealed that he’s really happy with Musetti’s progress on tour, but believes he has what it takes to become a top 5 player in the men’s circuit:

From the outside I can only support him. I’m happy for Lorenzo and for the choice he made. I know José well and I’m sure that together with Tartarini he will help him express his best level. He still needs that final click to settle in the top 5 and aim even higher. In my time in front of me I had Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka and many others.

Musetti has not played a competitive match since retiring against Djokovic in Melbourne. The Italian, who suffered a leg injury at the Australian Open, withdrew from the Argentina Open and Rio Open. He recently announced that he will not be playing at the Acapulco Open next week.

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