World No. 1
Jannik Sinner addressed the criticism following his quarterfinal defeat at the
Canadian Open. Sinner, who was aiming to defend his title, was halted by Andrey
Rublev with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-1, 2-6. The Italian faces yet another
disappointment amidst physical struggles that forced him to withdraw from the
recent Olympic Games.
The
22-year-old has now arrived in Cincinnati, where he will have a few days to
rest before hitting the court, as he advanced directly to the second round as
the first seed. Sinner faced the press to respond to the criticisms he has
received.
Sinner Responds to Criticism
On Saturday
morning, Sinner defeated 15th seed
Alejandro Tabilo to secure his spot in the
quarterfinals. However, due to constant rain delays in Montreal, he had only a
few hours of rest before facing Rublev in the quarterfinals.
It was not
a strong performance from Sinner, who, aside from the loss, appeared physically
drained, clearly impacted by the match earlier in the day. He also struggled to
recover from rallies, likely due to the tonsillitis that kept him out of the
Olympic Games.
Upon his
arrival in Cincinnati, Sinner acknowledged that he is not at 100% at the
moment, although he hopes to regain the consistency he has shown throughout the
year. He also responded to the criticism: "We often forget about the
season I'm having. I've won a lot of matches and lost very few; today marks
just my fifth defeat since the beginning of the year,” the world No. 1 said.
“I don't
see what the problem is: I also know that I shouldn't focus too much on these
statistics, but so far my year has been very consistent. I've reached at least
the quarterfinals in all the tournaments I've participated in," the 2024
Australian Open champion added, visibly frustrated by the criticism directed at
him.