Former British No.1 Claims Jannik Sinner Won’t Struggle in Wimbledon as He Did at The French Open

Jannik Sinner will kick off his Wimbledon title defense next week, but he will not play in any warm-up tournament ahead of it. His last match ended in a shocking second-round loss at the French Open to Juan Manuel Cerundolo. It was a match that he dominated until the third set. Former British No.1 Greg Rusedski believes it will not be a repeat of the same problems for Sinner at Wimbledon.

Sinner enters the Wimbledon Championships as the major favorite despite not winning the French Open. He’s the defending champion of the tournament, and last year he defeated his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. Alcaraz, the two-time Wimbledon champion, will not be at the tournament due to injury.

That makes Sinner the favorite. However, his shocking collapse against Cerundolo remains in the minds of fans, who have not seen him on the court since then. It has been reported that he has been monitored since the shocking fallout at Roland Garros and has undergone tests to determine what led to the incident.

Nonetheless, the biggest question is whether he has fully recovered mentally from the incident. And whether players on tour have finally found his secret to beating him, which is playing longer rallies. It has been observed that Sinner does not dominate matches when his opponents play longer rallies. That was noticeable against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the Italian Open.

Before Sinner’s loss at the French Open, he had won more than 30 consecutive matches, winning five ATP Masters 1000 in the process. In the latest episode of Off Court with Greg, Rusedski pointed out that Sinner has taken the necessary medical precautions ahead of Wimbledon and doesn’t see a repeat of the French Open early exit in London:

I don’t think he’ll have the problem he had in Paris. Because the points won’t be quite as physical. And also, he went to Milan, I think he went to Juventus football club as well, and saw a lot of doctors, was sorting it out, was finding the balance to make it work right. And I don’t think you can say it’s just Jannik Sinner to win the title… Who would have picked Zverev to win the French Open? Almost nobody, because of the fact that we thought Sinner, Sinner, Sinner.

Sinner has won just two titles on grass in his career. Statistically, it is one of his worst surfaces, with 29-10 on grass, which is a win rate of 74%. Despite having reached the semi-finals on multiple occasions and winning it, he sometimes finds the All England Club difficult. His best surface has always been the hard court.

Greg Rusedski gives his take on whether Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev could surprise Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon

If Jannik Sinner had won the French Open, he would have been the overwhelming favorite to win the Wimbledon Championship. But he’s yet to win a Grand Slam this season. That gives Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic a better probability of capturing the grass-court Grand Slam.

Zverev, who won the French Open, reached the semi-finals of the Terra Wortmann Open, while Djokovic has won Wimbledon seven times and has reached at least the semi-finals in the last three editions. During the aforementioned conversation, Greg Rusedski points out the chances of Djokovic and Zverev winning Wimbledon:

Novak Djokovic is the other man in the picture. We talked about it at the end of last year, saying, which slam do you think Novak has the best shot at? Wimbledon. So you know, strange things can happen. And also with Zverev, he hasn’t beaten a top 10 player in a long time, and he still won the French Open.

The 2026 French Open scenario, where Sinner and Djokovic exited early, is likely not to repeat itself at the Wimbledon Championship. However, Toni Nadal doesn’t see Djokovic winning a 25th Grand Slam and believes this year will be his last on tour, even though the Serbian legend is yet to announce when he will retire.

Also Read: Iga Swiatek Reveals Need For Restructuring Grand Slam Prize Money Ahead of Wimbledon