(Rome) World No.2 Jannik Sinner, forfeited for the Masters 1000 in Rome which begins Wednesday due to a right hip injury, warned on Sunday that he would not play Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9) only if it is “100%”.
“I will play Roland-Garros if and only if I am 100%. If there is even a shadow of a doubt, we will have to think,” the Italian said at a press conference in Rome.
“I don’t want to go into details. [de la blessure]we thought at the beginning that it was not, quote, a serious problem, but the MRIs showed that there was something wrong 100%,” continued the winner of the Australian Open in January.
“The situation is, I believe, under control. One thing is certain: if I am not 100% cured, I will take another break, because I do not want to lose three years in my career,” he continued.
“I’m in no hurry, it hurts [de ne pas jouer]but healing my body is the most important,” Sinner insisted.
The Italian withdrew on Saturday from the Roman meeting, “the tournament which was [sa] priority this year, because it is not often that[il] plays in Italy,” he confided, because of pain in his right hip which forced him to withdraw before his quarter-final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid.
He will now observe “a break of a week, a week and a half”.
“My preparation for Paris will not be optimal, because there will not be much time left, but what is certain is that I will give everything to be in a position to play,” assured Sinner.
The Italian dominated the start of the season: before his withdrawal from Madrid, he had a record of 28 wins and two defeats since the start of the year.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, then won in Rotterdam and Miami, to bring his record to 13 titles.
In Sinner’s sights are also the 2024 Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), the tennis tournament of which will be played on the clay court of Roland-Garros.
Clay is not the Italian’s favorite surface. He has won only one title (Umag in 2022) on this surface. His best result at Roland Garros was a quarter-final loss in three sets against Rafael Nadal in 2020.