Jannik Sinner captured a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open, but he is already in transit going to Cincinnati to play a part in the summer hard-court doubleheader.
After spending the entire week in Toronto, Sinner came up trumps in the final, cruising past Australia's Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 to win the biggest ATP title of his young career so far. He also rises to a career-high No. 6 in the latest ATP rankings.
In the aftermath of that win, Sinner says winning on Sunday was a massive confidence booster for the upcoming US Open where he fell at the quarterfinal stage to Carlos Alcaraz last year. But before he set sights on the final major of the season, Sinner faces a true test of endurance and stamina at the Cincinnati Masters where he'll have a maximum of two days without play at the very least.
Understandably fatigued, the 21-year-old admitted he'll request a late start for his first match in Ohio. By virtue of being a high seed, Sinner has a bye in the first round, so he could play his second-round match on Tuesday or Wednesday at the behest of the tournament organizer's plans.
"Yea, for sure, it's a good confidence boost, no? especially going into the US Open. It's going to be tough in Cinci because there's not so much time to adjust, but we will ask for a Wednesday start. Hopefully, I can get the Wednesday start so I have a couple of hits before the match, trying to be ready, yeah, for that tournament. And then trying to prepare in the best possible way the US Open."
Sinner is the eighth seed at the Cincinnati Masters and he will open up against either Argentina's No. 1 Francisco Cerundolo or a qualifier. The hard-hitting Italian will attempt to become the first man to complete the Canada-Cincinnati double since Rafael Nadal achieved that feat 10 years ago en route to winning the 2013 US Open.