Former Italian ATP player Paolo Bertolucci doesn't want to see Jannik Sinner playing at the Madrid Open after the most recent injury scare.
The 22-year-old has played a lot of tennis this year, especially in recent weeks, and some of that might have impacted his body. He's never been known as a physically imposing player due to his rather light build, and he's had some problems with that in the past.
One reason he never properly broke out in a major way before this year was the constant minor injuries he suffered from. After finally prioritizing his body in the past year, Sinner avoided that, and we saw what he's been able to do this year.
Still, a minor setback happened at the Monte-Carlo Masters recently when he seemingly struggled with his leg, even though he then said it was just cramps bothering him.
He got a few treatments in the final set of that match but ultimately limped to the finish line, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas. He was up a break when he injured himself but couldn't match the Greek player in the end. That's why a former player doesn't want to see him play until the Italian Open in Rome, to preserve his body.
"Rarely in tennis is a refereeing error as important as today’s, but this does not take anything away from Tsitsipas. It’s also true that, when he was on the ropes, that call and Sinner’s cramps gave him breath again and Jannik had none left. The last few games were a pain."
"Two semi-finals and a victory in the last three Masters 1000s means that Sinner is at the top of the world. Now he will stop and I hope not to see him before Rome."
The Italian will now be facing a difficult decision, as the Madrid Open is an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, but he certainly won't want to miss his home Masters event due to some physical issue.