Jannik Sinner Reveals If He Prefers Night Sessions Due to Past Struggles

Indian Wells is one of the few tournaments where Jannik Sinner has yet to taste success. He, in fact, is bidding to reach the final for the first time, having suffered defeats in the previous semifinals he played in 2023 and 2024.

The South Tyrol native has often struggled in scorching conditions. In the California desert, too, the temperature reaches high levels and has made the conditions challenging for the players. Even WTA World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, following her victory over Victoria Mboko in the quarterfinals, urged the spectators to stay hydrated and add salt to their drinks.

Sinner, at the press conference after his 6-1, 6-2 win over Learner Tien, was asked whether, due to the heat, he prefers to play during the night.

Oh, the truth is that I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter where they put me; I just try to play the best tennis possible.

Sinner skipped the first Masters 1000 of the season last year due to his three-month doping ban. The Italian has one Sunshine Doubles title to his name: he won the 2024 Miami Open by defeating Grigor Dimitrov.

Today I felt very comfortable in this heat. I arrived in Indian Wells very early, and the week before the tournament has been very warm, so that has helped me to be well and compete like this.

Jannik Sinner added

Sinner suffered cramps during his third-round match against Eliot Spizzirri in this year’s Australian Open. The implementation of the heat rule gave him 10 minutes to cool down, leading to accusations of providing preferential treatment to the high-profile players. Cramps due to the soaring condition had forced him to withdraw from his third-round match in last year’s Shanghai Masters.

Jannik Sinner set to lock horns with Alexander Zverev

Prior to dismantling Learner Tien and improving the head-to-head record over the American to 2-0, Jannik Sinner survived a scare against Joao Fonseca in the fourth round in what was also their first meeting on the tour. Up against in the semifinals will be another challenging opponent.

It’s Alexander Zverev, who breezed past Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals. Although Sascha trails 4-6 in the head-to-head matchups against the four-time Grand Slam champion, it’s the latter who has won their last five meetings.

It’s going to be a very tough match. We know each other very well: against him, you have to be as consistent as possible. At the same time, I know he is going to change a couple of things, so I must be very careful. I’ve watched a couple of his matches, and he is playing very good tennis.

Jannik Sinner said at the press conference

Both Sinner and Zverev are chasing their eighth Masters 1000 titles of their careers. The World No.2 lifted the title at this level for the last time at the 2025 Paris Masters. Zverev’s last Masters 1000 title came at the 2024 Paris Masters.

I will try to bring my best game; it will be a match that will also depend on when and at what time of the day we play, because that changes the dynamics of the match a bit. These are the kind of matches I prepare for, semifinals of a big tournament, with the stakes getting higher.

Jannik Sinner added

While the three-time Grand Slam champion has yet to taste victory in a final since the 2025 Munich Open, the last time Sinner won a title was at the 2025 ATP Finals by defeating Carlos Alcaraz. This year, Sinner, after losing the Australian Open semifinal to Novak Djokovic, fell in the Qatar Open quarterfinals, losing to Jakub Mensik.

Also read: Olympic Skier Clears the Air on Heckling of Jannik Sinner During Indian Wells

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