Jannik Sinner Not Thinking About Defending Points in Rome: “There Are Things I Must Improve”

Jannik Sinner, instead of dwelling on what happened last year, is focusing on the present. The Miami Open is underway, and Sinner has no points to defend, given that he skipped both the Sunshine Doubles tournaments due to his three-month doping ban last year.

At present, he is over 2000 points behind Carlos Alcaraz on the rankings table. Before arriving in Miami, the Italian ace added 1,000 points to his rankings after winning the Indian Wells Masters by defeating Daniil Medvedev.

In his Miami Open opening round, the four-time Grand Slam champion beat Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-3. At the press conference after knocking out the Bosnian ace, Sinner was asked whether he was trying to accumulate as many points as possible before the Italian Open.

I am not dwelling in the past; I am very present. Last week was successful for me, so I come here with a smile, trying to produce good tennis. I know my situation; I am aware of everything regarding defending points, so whatever comes will be positive.

Sinner finished as the runner-up in Rome last year, losing in straight sets to Alcaraz. It was the first tournament Sinner played after his doping ban. The 24-year-old has 650 points to defend in his home tournament.

Even if I lose in the first round, it’s okay. I try to take it day by day; the process is very important to me, the fact of being a good tennis player. I know the areas I need to work on, even coming off a tournament win, I know there are things I must improve. In any case, everything that happens until Rome will be adding up, it will be positive, so the ranking will be a consequence.

Jannik Sinner added

After Rome, Sinner’s task will be to defend 1,300 points at the French Open, where he finished as the runner-up, losing a five-set thriller to Alcaraz. If Sinner wins the clay-court Major, he will become the seventh man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam and the first one after Alcaraz, who achieved the feat at this year’s Australian Open by beating Novak Djokovic.

Jannik Sinner on how he studies his opponents

Sinner is chasing the Sunshine Doubles. At Indian Wells, he became the first man in the Masters 1000s to win back-to-back titles of this level without dropping a set. The South Tyrol native is on a 12-match winning streak in Masters 1000s and has now won 24 consecutive sets this level, tying with Djokovic’s record.

Sinner now has the chance to break the Serb’s record if he wins the first set of his third-round match against Corentin Moutet, whom he defeated in the fourth round of the 2024 French Open in what was also their first head-to-head meeting. At the press conference after his victory over Dzumhur, Sinner was asked how he studies his opponents.

I always try to watch clips of some of the matches they have played recently, trying to understand how they develop their game and in what areas I could potentially perform better than them. Damir is a very talented player, always has a very good feel for the ball, so I tried to move him around to see how he would respond.

Sinner finished as the runner-up in the 2021 and 2023 Miami Open, losing to Hubert Hurkacz and Medvedev, respectively. But in 2024, he finally tasted victory, defeating Grigor Dimitrov.

The Indian Wells triumph was Sinner’s first title of the season, as he lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinal and to Arthur Fils in the Qatar Open quarterfinals. If Sinner wins the Miami title, he will become the eighth man in the Open Era to complete the Sunshine Doubles.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz Believes Joao Fonseca Has a Lot to Improve on After Their Clash in Miami

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