Jannik Sinner admitted that he wasn't playing at his best in the opening round of the 2024 Cincinnati Open, as he still struggles physically.
The Italian player is ranked as the World No. 1 on the ATP Tour, which means that over the past 12 months, no one managed to accumulate more points than he did.
However, even consistency takes its toll, and the 22-year-old experienced it recently when he struggled with an injury during his quarter-final match at the 2024 Canadian Open in Montreal.
Sinner lost that match in three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 2-6, but after the match, he refused to talk about the health issue in detail and maintained that he would go on to compete at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati.
Still, he expected to struggle in Cincinnati, as the conditions don't suit him that much, but he was quite confident in his second-round win over Alex Michelsen, winning 6-4, 7-5.
Speaking after the match, the Italian admitted that it was a challenging match for him, once again mentioning conditions, which he found tricky to overcome, but he managed to do that.
"It was a tough match. He played already some matches, but for me, it was the first match here, so I tried to feel the conditions a bit more. I'm very happy to be in the next round."
It seems that the conditions in Cincinnati are really bothering Sinner, as he mentioned them multiple times during his post-match interview, but he also tried to stay positive.
The World No. 1 player claimed that he tries to have a 'positive mindset', which he believed helped him to power through against Michelsen and win the challenging match in two sets.
"For me this is a place where I used to struggle a lot in the past years, so let's see what I can do this time. I'm trying to stay in a positive mindset, positive moment, and I think that today also brought me the win."
Naturally, the interest of many was also the Italian's physical state. He physically struggled in Montreal, and while he won in Cincinnati, it was clear that he could play much better, as we've seen him perform at much higher level early this year.
The reigning Australian Open champion confirmed that, as he stated that he was not at 100% physically, stating that his main goal is to recover for the upcoming US Open, which is the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, starting on August 26th.
"For sure not 100 per cent yet [physically], but I'm trying to get used to these kind of conditions. The main goal is to recover as best as possible for the US Open."
As a true professional, Sinner will now certainly focus on achieving the best possible result in Cincinnati, as he will play against Jordan Thompson from Australia for a spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament, where he may clash with Andrey Rublev once again.
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