"If you ask me": Jannik Sinner shares perspective about new format of Cincinnati Open

Italy’s Jannik Sinner is set to return to the court after lifting his fourth Grand Slam title about a month ago in London. In that competition, Sinner defeated the two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Sinner’s next assignment is going to be the Cincinnati Open, where he will be defending his title. The 23-year-old won the competition in 2024 after beating America’s Frances Tiafoe in the final in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-2. This year’s competition, however, will be a little different compared to last year's.

The Cincinnati Open and the ongoing Canadian Open used to be organised over one week till last year. However, from this year onwards, the tournament will be organised over 12 days. It is for this reason that both tournaments will take place one after the other. The Canadian Open’s finals will take place on August 07th, which is the same day that the Cincinnati Open will start as well.

For this reason, the likes of Sinner, along with Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, decided not to take part in the Canadian Open. Ahead of the competition, Sinner spoke to the media and expressed his views about the changes taking place in the overall structure of the competition. Sinner was of the opinion that for fans, these tournaments are more enjoyable as they cover two weekends. Sinner further went on to admit that players have no power over decisions such as scheduling and stated that his preference is to play in a ‘week-long’ competition.

“By now, there are many tournaments like this; they get long,” said Sinner. “But (we players) can’t control everything: for the fans, it’s nice, because they can enjoy two weekends of good tennis. If you ask me if I would prefer a week-long tournament… Yes, like the one in Monte Carlo, for example, I prefer it. But that’s fine.”

Sinner’s victory in London was memorable for so many reasons. In the round of 16, Sinner suffered a nasty fall at the start of the match against Belarus’ Grigor Dimitrov. That fall had an impact on Sinner, who lost the first two sets with a score of 6-3, 7-5. In the third set, it was 2-2 when Dimitrov suffered a serious injury, which forced him to retire from the contest, resulting in Sinner qualifying for the quarterfinal. In the remaining matches, Sinner wore a sleeve to protect his elbow and eventually went on to lift the Wimbledon title for the first time in his career. Talking about the elbow, Sinner stated that he feels good competing and also hinted that he might continue wearing the sleeves because he likes the ‘feeling’ of it.

“The elbow is good,” said Sinner. Today was the first time that I put a sleeve on because I liked the feeling of the sleeve. It gives a little bit more impact with the ball, it's slightly more stable. That's my point of view and I liked it in Wimbledon. I have to see how it is when it's very hot and humid, because it's a little bit different, so it's going to be something that I'm going to take into consideration, but I really love the feeling it gives of pure striking.”

The triumph in London was also crucial for Sinner as he arrived in that competition after suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the French Open against the same opponent, Alcaraz. In that contest, Sinner had three championship points in the fourth set but failed to capitalise on it and went on to lose the contest in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. The match lasted more than five hours and was officially the second-longest final in the history of Grand Slams. Talking about the importance of winning the Wimbledon title, Sinner stated that he was glad to get over the line, and he was happy to spend some time with his family as well.

“This one was very different also because what I had the Grand Slam before, what happened there and coming back and showing this kind of level also at times surprised me too,” said Sinner. "I'm very obviously very happy. I took some time off, seeing my family and friends and very important people. And after that, I got back to training, trying to be as ready as possible for this swing, which is very important too.”