Jannik Sinner has spoken out after his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, pulled out of the Shanghai Masters. The world No. 1 lifted the trophy in Tokyo on Tuesday after suffering a scare earlier in the tournament when he injured his ankle and looked in danger of retiring.
After beating Taylor Fritz in the final, Alcaraz decided to skip the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai, where he would have been primed to face defending champion Sinner in a mouthwatering championship match. It leaves Sinner as the highest-ranked man in the draw.
Over the past week, Sinner was in action in Beijing while Alcaraz played in Tokyo, and they went on to win the respective tournaments. The world’s two best players would have been the favourites to reach the final in Shanghai next week, but Alcaraz has now withdrawn from the tournament.
The Spanish superstar has been vocal about the packed tennis calendar in the past. After a discussion with his team, Alcaraz, who has “been struggling with some physical issues”, decided the best decision was to rest and recover.
Sinner has now had his say on Alcaraz’s decision, explaining that he also felt it was necessary to miss some events in order to stay fresh.
“Well, I skipped already many tournaments. Last year, for example, not playing a couple of tournaments,” the world No. 2 said.
“Depends obviously what results you playing. If you go very far, like Carlos did this season, where basically every time you play you make at least final… Tournaments are getting also longer.
“The Masters events, they are quite long also. It’s not a one-week event, basically a two-week event. Yeah, at some point I feel like you have to jump some tournaments. But everyone thinks in different ways, no?”
Reflecting on his own choices, the newly-crowned China Open champion continued: “For me, I skipped last year couple of tournaments because I think it was the right choice for my body and mind.
“Yeah, so also this year I didn’t play Toronto, for example, or Montreal. Yeah, you have sometimes to jump some tournaments. You can always choose. That’s why I say, yes, they’re mandatory, but at the end of the day you can still choose. I chose always or I will keep still choosing for my best.”
Sinner is in a unique position compared to most of his rivals, having played a lot less tennis this year. The Italian served a three-month suspension from February to May, and is arguably fresher than other players on tour at this point of the season.
“Three months… One thing is if you’re injured, you accept it better. This year was a little bit different. It was not easy. But in the same time I used this time to work on things. We’ve been practising very hard. I feel like physically I’m getting slightly better every time,” he added.
The Italian would have been seeking revenge if he met Alcaraz at the Shanghai Masters, after losing their US Open final a few weeks ago.
Alcaraz dominated to win 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4, and Sinner admitted he was planning to change things in his game to be a better player when they next faced off. But their next opportunity to meet will come in Paris, while they have both also qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin.
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