Chris Evert explains the real danger facing Jannik Sinner

Former women’s tennis world No. 1 Chris Evert spoke in an interview with corriere.it about Jannik Sinner and his chances of repeating last season’s Wimbledon victory: The Italian is still the top favorite, especially given the absence of his archrival Carlos Alcaraz, but his struggles at Roland Garros have somewhat shaken his dominance on the tour.

“It’s clear that Sinner has no weaknesses in his game—I’m talking about the tennis he plays. Up until Roland Garros, he was unbeatable, and I expect him to be just as unbeatable on the grass at Wimbledon. In the five Masters 1000 tournaments he won in a row, I saw his opponents intimidated, lacking the confidence to give him any trouble.”

According to Evert, Sinner has only one true opponent: “We’ve realized that Sinner’s worst enemy is Sinner himself: he needs to stay healthy and avoid slumps in performance. If he can do that, I believe that in ten years we’ll be talking about a truly remarkable career. The concern for everyone else—absolutely everyone—when they face Jannik is that they have to play better than their very best. Personally, I would never count Novak Djokovic out. But Sinner must have done a great job of planning to reach his peak during those two weeks. In my view, if Sinner plays to his full potential, the title is his.”

Sinner was one of the stars who threatened to boycott the Grand Slams: “I stand with the players, who feel they aren’t receiving a sufficient share of Grand Slam earnings. And I like that lower-ranked players are also involved: life is harder for them. The problem is that, as always, the Grand Slams are entities unto themselves, which talk to—or don’t talk to—whomever they please. But the top players hold all the cards: without them, there’s no tournament.”