Physical fitness is an essential part of an athlete’s career. Without proper fitness, players not only miss out on important tournaments but also lose their form. Italy’s Jannik Sinner has been in the spotlight for his injuries this season. Exiting Toronto with a heavy heart due to another injury, Sinner assured fans about the Cincinnati Masters. Now, his statement about physical issues has caused much disappointment among the fraternity.

Sinner confirmed a hip issue after Andrey Rublev defeated him in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open. While his statement raised a question mark on his preparation for the US Open, Sinner has dropped a positive response. “I feel quite good. Obviously I made nearly one week without practising before and then after playing for two, three days in a row, a bit more than usual, [that] could [have had] a potential impact to the hip,” he said.

Yesterday he defeated the USA’s Alex Michelsen in Cincinnati’s Round of 32 and dropped another update about his health. “I’m not 100% yet, the main goal is to recover as best as possible for the US Open,” said the Italian. Sinner’s statement brought a lot of disappointment among tennis fans.

Sinner missed the Italian Open due to a hip injury in the Madrid Open. Two months later, he again had to skip the Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis. His consecutive injuries have left his fans not just worried but also disappointed. They dropped their opinions on X, sharing their disappointment over Sinner’s carelessness about his fitness.

Angry at Sinner’s constant injury excuses,  fans dropped their comments

Since Sinner mentioned not being 100% fit, his followers have stormed social media. One person commented, “He starts sounding like Nadal.” Since 2023, most of Nadal’s dialogue with the tennis world has been about his injuries. Not to forget when Nadal suffered a chronic foot injury in 2022. His team cited the troubles due to long matches. However, people noticed that since that incident injury, Nadal played three matches containing 5 sets, one against Shapalov and another against Medvedev in the 2022 Australian Open. 

Another person took a sly dig at Sinner’s non-athletic mentality. “100% only when he wins lol,” they said. Sinner won the Halle Open prior to his run in Wimbledon. However, he fell to Daniil Medvedev in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, citing physical issues once again. “This morning I already didn’t feel great. I had some problems and then with the fatigue. It was tough,” said Sinner after losing the quarterfinals. 

Some people also questioned Sinner’s conflicting statements. “what exactly is he recovering from this time? didn’t he say he was fine at the beginning of Canada?” questioned another tennis fan. He referred to the ATP world number 1’s statement after Toronto when he mentioned that he felt “quite good.”

People critiqued his statements about having to return to 100%. Ideally, an injury requires a break from professional matches, but Sinner has no plans for it. Questioning his confusing methods, one fan said, “Must be some new therapy that Sinner has discovered where recovery from an injury happens by PLAYING instead of RESTING.“

Nadal has often caught flak for stating injuries as a reason for performing poorly. Although he won, Sinner states he is still in thick of recovering. People not only dropped their anguish but asked Sinner to stop giving “Excuse after excuse. “Injury” after “injury”. Always saying that he has something… until when, Jannik? Play and don’t cry. And if you have something, easy, don’t play and that’s it. This whining is unnecessary.”

Sinner’s statements have made his fans anxious about his next match against Jordan Thompson at the Roun of 16 tomorrow. Now, it is time to see whether Sinner proves everyone wrong or uses his injury once more to console his failure.