“My head was spinning.” The explanations of the world number 1 after the unexpected failure at Roland Garros
“I had no energy left,” was the first statement of Italian men's world No. 1 Jannik Sinner after his surprise exit in the second round of the Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros on Thursday.
The big favorite was defeated by the Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ranked 56th ATP).
Sinner won the first two sets, only to lose the next three in a row.
In the end, the score was 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6. Sinner even led 5-1 in the third set, a moment that proved decisive.
“I didn't feel very well on the court, there are things that happen. In the third set I started well, but I had difficulties. I congratulate him, because he deserves it, his match was solid, that's the situation, that's the sport,” said Sinner, in a press conference after the match, according to L'Equipe.
“I felt bad, my head was spinning, I had no energy left, nothing was coming out. I tried to serve for the match, but I didn't have much energy, I let the fourth set slip away, the first game of the fifth set was very good, I couldn't hold on and everything started to fall apart,” the Italian added.
“When I woke up, I didn't feel very well. I didn't sleep very well. In Grand Slam tournaments there are always days when you don't feel well and that happened to me. I suffered a painful setback and that was it. It was warm, but not that warm, the conditions were good for the game, it was me, today, that's what happened,” added Sinner, quoted by Agerpres.
The approach to Wimbledon
Asked if the situation was different to other times when he was in trouble, such as last year's Shanghai tournament and the 2026 Australian Open, the world No. 1 said: “In Shanghai it was very humid; in Australia it was very hot, I remember. It's different on the hard surface, where the heat comes from below. It was hot here, but it was bearable, I wasn't dying of heat. It's hard to accept, given my position, but that's the way it is. No. I will play a lot of tournaments before Wimbledon, I will need time to fully recover”.
“I always try to see the positives. I played well, winning three tournaments on this surface, clay. At the beginning of the tournament I was playing well, moving well, but today was a completely different day, which should not have happened. I need time to see what went wrong and also the positives. On the positive side, I will be able to train for a few weeks before Wimbledon,” he stated.
Asked if he had any regrets about how he handled the clay season, Sinner said: “No, you never know. If I hadn't played in Madrid or Rome, today could have happened to me. It's always hard to look back. My results on clay were incredible. It wasn't what I set out to do, but I don't know if it would have mattered if I had skipped Madrid or Rome.”
