After his Paris collapse, Sinner stays guarded on the heat ahead of Wimbledon
Five weeks after collapsing in the Paris heat, Jannik Sinner says he has retooled his fitness for warmer conditions as he prepares to defend his Wimbledon title from Monday. In a press conference lasting barely nine minutes, the world No. 1 stayed guarded on the physical fragility that undid his Paris campaign.
Jannik Sinner, Armani Classic 2026 | © Giorgio Armani Classic
Jannik Sinner has spent the build-up to his Wimbledon title defence preparing his body for hotter conditions, five weeks after a physical collapse in the Paris heat ended his French Open in stunning fashion and halted a more than 30-match winning streak.
The first question of the press conference went straight to the body. Sinner had recently spoken of testing himself to understand what had failed in Paris, and the opening query pressed him on it: “You mentioned recently that you started to test your body to kind of understand where it went wrong at Roland-Garros. What exactly were those tests like, and what did you learn from them?”
The world No. 1, who begins against Miomir Kecmanovic on Monday, said the checks had been general and the results reassuring. “All the tests were really good,” he said, framing them as a health precaution to be sure everything was in order. But he moved quickly to the issue he clearly regarded as central. “Everywhere we play, it’s going to be very hot,” he said. “Every year it’s getting warmer and warmer.”
He called it an important topic, while insisting the work his team was doing left him satisfied. He would not be drawn much further. The press conference ran barely nine minutes across three languages, a clipped affair in which Sinner offered little on the physical fragility that surfaced in Paris.
The precautions have been visible. On Wednesday, Sinner wore a cooling vest at practice at the All England Club as southern England sat under a red warning for extreme heat, the same day he beat Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3 at the Giorgio Armani Classic . In Fulham, where the grass-court event was held, the early-afternoon temperature reached 33°C. During the match he notably went without the ice packs he had reached for in the past.
The subject carries unusual weight. At Roland-Garros, Sinner led world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo by two sets and 5-1 before cramping in temperatures around 32 degrees and unravelling, one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history. The defending Wimbledon champion has not played a competitive match since.
“I always believe in small details and small changes”
He described two and a half weeks of adjusted work in the gym and on court, while playing down its scale. “I always believe in small details and small changes,” he said, cautioning that the effects would not be immediately visible. “It’s a long process – there’s no magic behind it.
Pressed for detail on what had actually changed, he offered little, returning to the language of small adjustments rather than specifics. Sinner noted also that match tension cannot be fully simulated in training. He arrived at the All England Club without a grass-court warm-up event, a deliberate choice after what he has described as a draining clay season.
The Italian, who beat Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s final, framed the work as part of a wider, longer process rather than a quick fix before the fortnight. “I’m very happy with the work we did,” he said.
