Paolo Bertolucci brings everyone back to reality about Jannik Sinner and his moment
Reduced from the Miami Open semifinals won against Alexander Zverev by a score of 3-6 6-7, Jannik Sinner in the final act of the U.S. tournament will face Czech Jiří Lehečka on Sunday evening at 9 p.m. on Central Court. The San Candido outfielder could thus clinch the Sunshine Double after his victory in Indian Wells.
To Gazzetta dello Sport’s Paolo Bertolucci had this to say about Jannik Sinner: “Nothing new under the sun, in this case of Florida. Everyone was very worried about Jannik Sinner’s condition at the beginning of the season, as he had not confirmed the previous year’s success in Australia and even lost to Mensik in Doha, showing a tennis and physical condition that was definitely not optimal. But as was to be expected, those weeks of tarnish were daughters perhaps of a call of preparation and to the arrival of this American spring on cement, the surface he adores.”
“After winning in Indian Wells, the final in Miami, but above all two stations certified the fact that he is back at the highest level. Phenomenal what he did both against Michelsen and against the best version of Zverev in years: he showed once again that he can, at important moments, raise the bar of his game. Sometimes he does it with a response, sometimes with pressing from behind, against the German it was his serve that was the weapon that saved him because during exchanges from the backcourt he was objectively struggling quite a bit.”
The racquet legend then brought everyone back to the reality of Sinner’s moment: “I mean, the refrigerator can’t always be full with everything you need, but the skill of our tristate chef is to always cook absolute top-notch dishes with what he finds. Today awaiting him in the final is Lehecka, a player with a good serve, very physically prepared, but who does not have a particularly sharp weapon in his arms.”
“The Sinner seen in recent weeks is certainly capable of completing the Sunshine Double that Federer’s 2017 feat lacks, and it would be one more record that this player manages to put in his own scrapbook. One thing is for sure, to win the Miami final he will only need to play between 80 and 85 percent of his level, nothing more, nothing less.”
“Success over Lehecka would also really reopen the race for No. 1 in the Atp rankings. But there are many ifs, starting with the most important one: will he play in Monte Carlo? Because he comes from a month on American cement, going from coast to coast, which takes your blood and wears you down as much as possible. Then, like Alcaraz, he’s already said he’s going to focus mainly on Slam events, so the focus is on Paris and as a second choice Rome, which he cares so much about. Number 1 is the consequence of successes, of starting play: he could show up at Monte Carlo, Rome, and Paris, or skip the Principality and immediately focus on a preparation call and transition to the new surface. The clay, historically, is not the one he would choose to play the match of a lifetime. He would do it indoors, or alternatively focus on cement and grass,” concluded Paolo Bertolucci.
