Alex Corretja has named a player who can stop Sinner at Roland Garros

Twice finalist on the clay of Paris, Alex Corretja believes that Alexander Zverev (29 years old, #3 ATP) is the one who can beat the Italian in the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.

Alex Corretja: “Sascha should be one of the players who can win here”

“I think Zverev is right when he says that he is right behind Carlos and Jannik. There is a gap between them and Novak and Sascha have shown that they are ready to perform at Grand Slams.

He played well here, so I'm not sure it will be that easy to beat him on clay. He's earned the right to consider himself a potential finalist, I'm not disputing that he's among the top players who can win here.

Sascha should be one of the players who can win here. For me, once you get into this tournament, it's completely different, no matter what happens during the clay season. He has played well this season, but not great. In a way, he might be a little more rested coming into the tournament. He has to believe he can play well and be very aggressive from day one.

He can be passive and wait for opponents to run him around, and then in week two he might be tired. We should at least give him credit for the fact that he can reach the final stages, but there are players like Novak and Casper Ruud who could prove me wrong,” Alex Corretja told Eurosport.

The former ATP number 2 also spoke about the heatwave conditions in Paris, which can affect athletes' performance.

The conditions are brutal. Very difficult to manage. Honestly, I don't think it benefits too many players, but at the same time, if you're one of the favorites, you might struggle, which can balance your opponent's odds a bit. It is like when the wind blows very strongly; maybe you just can't dominate your opponent. With heat, it's about the same. But at the same time, you get the feeling that it will be very difficult for the opponents to keep up with the big players, because if you go in with a lot of intensity from the beginning, you are dealing with experienced players like Sinner, Djokovic or even Zverev. So I think the opponents might suffer more than them, even though they might have a slightly better chance due to the brutal conditions.

Sometimes you have to drink a lot, but at the same time, you can't just go out on the field and drink the whole bottle of water at every break, because otherwise your stomach fills up and you can't move. Also, sometimes when you sit down during the breaks, you feel the heat coming over you, so you have to put your ice towels on you to cool off a bit. Also, sometimes your legs may seem a little heavier than usual. And before matches, you don't want to eat too much, but at the same time you have to protect yourself with some carbohydrates and protein.

So you have to find a balance. Also, when you have to force, maybe in big moments, or if you feel like you have chances, try to capitalize on them, because you might not have many during matches. So it's important to stay focused at every moment when you need to play your best tennis.

Dealing with the heat wave also depends on experience, because you have been through it before and you know that it is difficult for you to manage this situation. Sometimes you don't panic as much because you feel like “ok, I've been through this before and I know I might win a set, but I'm not even going to celebrate even if I'm leading by two sets to zero” or even if you lose a set in the third, you're like “ok, that's fine, I'll go to the fourth.” There are players who, I think, know how to handle it better than others, especially in five-set matches. Not many have that experience. We currently have Sinner, Zverev, Medvedev, Djokovic and of course maybe Ruud. I think they know exactly what to do in the heat, whereas the young guys maybe don't have as much experience.

– Alex Corretja

Jannik Sinner will debut in Paris against Clement Tabur (26 years old, #171 ATP), while Alexander Zverev will play against Tomas Machac (25 years old, #43 ATP).