Ivan Ljubicic warns Jannik Sinner after illness
Ivan Ljubicic gave a lengthy interview to ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’ after the Cincinnati Masters 1000 final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, in which the world number one was forced to retire after only 23 minutes of play due to an illness.
With the Us Open just around the corner, L’Azzurro does not have much time to recover: “It depends on how long he lasts. If he recovers in 2-3 days, there will be no backlash. If, on the other hand, he has to rest all this week, then it becomes complicated to regain the form needed to win a Slam. Although Jannik will have more matchable opponents in the early rounds, the distance of three out of five sets and the heat and humidity of Flushing Meadows could make him lose a lot of energy”.
“When the 1000s lasted a week, players could better manage recovery and training times– added l’Roger Federer’s former coach. Now it is much more difficult. What we saw in Cincinnati gives one pause. I cannot understand why people insist on playing in that heat and humidity. The athletes are in danger of getting hurt, the audience is not enjoying it. Something has to be done”.
In the New York Slam, Sinner and Alcaraz could face each other for the third time in the finals of a major in 2025: “Hard to make a prediction about a match that, in the event, would be played in nearly three weeks. Not rightly counting Cincinnati, Alcaraz is ahead 5-2 in direct clashes on concrete. At the same time, the best Sinner is expressing himself on this surface. All things considered, I would say they would start evenly, partly because their matches are always very close. They are certainly clearly ahead of everyone else, I would be surprised if they do not make it to the end, with the question mark of Jannik” health.
“The surface is very important – explained the’former tennis player.
At Wimbledon, for example, Sinner pushed hard on Alcaraz’s forehand: on grass it works, on clay it doesn’t. Usually in New York the courts are quite fast: high trajectories do not pay, you have to move very well and be physically 110%. This is a tournament that demands a lot and requires aggressive tennis. They both practice it, in Alcaraz’s case the variants of pronounced top spin and buntings pay a little less. We will also have to see the level of service”.
