Jim Courier ‘Really Shocked’ After Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Others’ Major Decision Before French Open

Before the French Open, Novak Djokovic will play the Geneva Open, while Jannik Sinner has signed up for the Hamburg Open.

Jim Courier ‘Really Shocked’ After Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Others’ Major Decision Before French Open

Novak Djokovic, Jim Courier, Jannik Sinner (Image via N-TV, X/We Are Tennis, Giovanni Pelazzo)

Several top players have decided to sign up for events in Geneva or Hamburg. The former is an ATP 250 tournament, while the latter belongs to the 500 category.

These top players also include Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. Sinner’s goal is to get more match practice at the Hamburg European Open before he starts his bid for his first French Open title as he recently made his comeback from his three-month doping ban.

Djokovic’s reason is similar. He is chasing his 100th ATP title and his first since the Paris Olympics last year. On the clay swing this year so far, the Serb was unsuccessful in clinching a set in the two tournaments (Masters 1000) he played in Monte Carlo and Madrid.

His goal behind signing up for the Geneva Open is to regain his form before the French Open. Courier said that he understands the reason why Djokovic and Sinner are playing an event a week before the French Open but was shocked why the other 11 top 20 players are doing the same.

With someone like Sinner, there is a lot of insurance at play. For Djokovic, he needs the matches because he has not played.

Jim Courier told Tennis Channel

Apart from these two players, seven top 20 players will play in Hamburg and four have signed up for the Geneva Open. The list includes two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year’s US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz, and 2024 Paris Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti.

Let’s set the table, these tournaments can pay appearance fees so some of these players will have accepted a big guarantee, I am talking hundreds of thousands of dollars just to show up and play and they don’t have to win a match to get that money, so there is some commercial aspect to this.

Jim Courier added

According to Courier, the “serious” players, who aim to win the French Open, will never appear in these warm-up tournaments. Andy Roddick was on the show and he too agreed with his compatriot’s views, saying that if he had made deep runs in the Masters 1000 tournaments before Roland Garros, he rather would have landed in Paris to prepare for the clay-court Major.

John Isner claims Jannik Sinner’s ban was a blessing in disguise

After the three-month doping ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Jannik Sinner made his comeback in the ongoing Italian Open, producing strong performances in the three matches he played so far. He has now progressed to the quarterfinal for the second time in his home tournament following the 2022 season (lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas).

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/GamebredSports)

The WADA initially wanted to hand Sinner a ban of between one and two years and had approached the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the same. But they surprisingly reached a case resolution and suspended the three-time Grand Slam champion for three months. According to John Isner, the three-month doping ban was like an off-season for the Italian ace.

It is a perfect start for him. I actually think he was out for three months and he wasn’t hurt. I think this is a bit of a blessing in disguise because how often do you get three months?

John Isner said on the Nothing Major podcast

Sinner is chasing his second title of the season after the Australian Open where he defeated Alexander Zverev to become a three-time Major champion. Due to the ban, he missed four Masters 1000 tournaments, including the Miami Open which he lifted last year.

Following his win over Francisco Cerundolo in the Rome Open fourth round, Sinner extended his winning streak to 23 matches. He has not yet lost a match since the 2024 Shanghai Masters in October.

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