Sinner looking to forget French Open heartache: “I still think about these couple of points”
The Italian is the defending champion this week in Halle
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon, 2024 © Action Plus / Panoramic
Jannik Sinner admits it might take some time before he stops thinking about his near miss at Roland-Garros last weekend but is determined to focus on the positives as he transitions from clay to grass.
The world No 1 had three match points at 5-3 and 0-40 on the Carlos Alcaraz serve in the fourth set of a dramatic, epic French Open final but could not take them and then was unable to serve it out in the following game as he was eventually edged out in a final-set tiebreak in the longest Roland-Garros final in history.
The Italian is back in action this coming week as he swaps clay for grass and the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle where he is the top seed and defending champion. Sinner says he’s happy to have a new tournament to think about.
“It was for sure a tough loss,” he said in a video shown on Tennis TV. “I still think about this couple of points, and it won’t stop here, I know that.
“But in the other way, I am happy to be here and I’m happy to start a new tournament. I think this helps me to get again into into this match rhythm, and then let’s see how I’m gonna react.
“You can see the negative side, but you can still see positive side. I’ve never played tennis on clay like this. I went to Rome, I made final there. I played in Paris. I made final of Grand Slam, so, amazing. And then the level we have played, me and Carlos, was extremely high. So I was happy to be part of this.”
Sinner opens against a qualifier in Halle and then could play Alexander Bublik, with Hubert Hurkacz or Tomas Machac likely to be waiting in the quarter-finals.
