Jannik Sinner is back training after appearing at the Six Kings Slam, and the world No. 1 was seen trying different rackets during a practice session.
Sinner played at the Vienna Open last year, which is taking place this week. After an enthralling three-set battle, he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the 2023 final.
The Italian decided not to compete at the 2024 iteration of the ATP-500 tournament. Sinner will lose the 500 points he won last year, but that does not matter much since he is guaranteed to end 2024 as the year-end No. 1.
Instead, Sinner chose to play at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia last week. The other players involved were Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune.
Sinner's intensity did not drop just because it was an exhibition. He dismantled Medvedev in straight sets before winning a tough match with Djokovic in the deciding set to reach the final.
Although professional pride probably played a part, the lucrative financial rewards on offer will also have helped Sinner keep his intensity high. The winner's prize money of $6 million was the largest in tennis history.
Sinner claimed that significant amount by defeating Alcaraz 6-7, 6-3, 6-3. That ended a run of three consecutive losses to the Spaniard, although their match in Saudi Arabia was not counted in their official head-to-head.
It is unsurprising that the world's No. 1 decided not to play the week after competing at the Six Kings Slam. His next tournament is set to be at the Paris Masters, which will be the final year that the Masters-1000 tournament is held at the Accor Arena in Bercy.
Sinner's presence became more important for the event's star quality after Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Paris Masters. The tournament director also confirmed that Rafael Nadal did not ask to appear at the final Masters-1000 event of 2024.
Footage has emerged on social media of Sinner preparing for the Paris Masters in Monaco, and he decided to experiment with different racket types during his practice session.
As seen in the video below, Sinner is hitting with good intensity in Monaco, striking a combination of forehands and backhands in the clip. Based on the footage, he looks sharp.
Sinner's outstanding success this year might make it tempting to rigidly adhere to the formula that has served him so well in 2024, but the training session in Monaco proves that is not his approach.
The two-time Grand Slam champion decided to try multiple rackets to see how they felt. The rackets he chose were blacked out to prevent others on the ATP Tour from becoming aware of what he was experimenting with.
Sinner's mentality has been excellent this season. His willingness to keep looking for ways to improve after winning two Grand Slams and reaching No. 1 in the rankings helps to explain the Italian's success and why he is likely to keep winning significant honors.
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