2024-07-27 19:06:20
First it was the hip, now it’s tonsillitis. And that’s if you look only at 2024. Because if it’s true that Jannik Sinner’s lightning-fast career has been studded with exceptional successes, it’s equally clear that setbacks have also played a leading role, chasing the champion from Sesto Pusteria in his ascent to the top of the world rankings.
Jannik’s ailments
Knee, covid, hand, various ailments. The South Tyrolean has systematically had to deal with his body, capable of supporting him in the greatest feats, but also revealed to be a capricious traveling companion, and desirous, at regular intervals, of ad hoc treatments. This is why the new stop should not be too surprising, if it were not for the fact that the slowdown comes on the eve of the Paris Olympics, the event not to be missed, marked for some time on the agenda, both by the tennis player and by the entire national sports movement, given that Jannik, number one in the ranking, represented, in all respects, the good horse on which to bet heavily; the man, in essence, capable of erasing a fast from the podium that for Italian tennis has lasted for 100 years, since the bronze won in 1924 by Baron Uberto de Morpurgo, as if on purpose right in the French capital.
The second “no” to the Games
It was the right opportunity for redemption, in short, but, once again, the student of Vagnozzi and Cahill had to give priority to his body. A decision that was not easy, which came after a consultation with specialists, “my medical staff advised me to take some time to rest and recover completely”, wrote the Italian on social media, and which also proved extremely unpopular. If the sports institutions, Federtennis and Coni, were taken aback, they nevertheless proved to be understanding, unlike three years ago when Sinner gave up
this at the Tokyo Games to focus on his growth, the “people of the web” did not fail to unleash themselves, finding a new opportunity, after the case concerning his residency in Monte Carlo, to point the finger at the Pusteria native.
The gut reaction
Negative comments posted on the various profiles of the racket champion continue to follow one another online,
me the photos at the seaside a few days ago with his partner, his Russian colleague Anna Kalinskaya, accompanied by sentences like: «But before the most important tournament of the year wouldn’t it be the ca-
I know how to avoid “catching a cold”, as my grandmother used to say? “There are those who hypothesize that the flat rate is le-
due to our country’s lack of love, others wonder how a “simple tonsillitis” can lead an athlete to give up the most important event of all, when there would be others “ready to compete even on one leg”.
The calendar is “worth” more
Beyond the outbursts and frustration, which Sinner himself also expressed (“I am bitter-
to», he wrote), a less than top form would certainly have affected the performance of the 22-year-old from Sesto Pusteria on the clay of Roland Garros, with the risk of further worsening the situation. And therefore, it is easier to think that the ATP circuit and the “weight” of future events have taken precedence over everything else. Masters 1000 in Toronto, US Open, Shanghai, ATP 500 in Beijing, tournaments that a year ago projected Jannik towards a season finale bordering on the extraordinary – from Vienna to the Finals, up to Davis -, constitute in perspective both a treasure trove of points to defend and another chance to relaunch; to confirm himself at the top of the rankings and, without saying it out loud, to make everyone change their minds.
2024-07-27 19:06:20