Ahead of the US Open this year, there are so many questions about Jannik Sinner that remain unanswered.
After all, in the space of a week, he has gone from the overwhelming favourite to a player that many are starting to question.
He is, by some distance, the best hard-court player on the planet.
And yet, retiring with an illness from his Cincinnati Open final against Carlos Alcaraz has thrown his dominance into doubt.
The fans needed a fitness update.
Simone Vagnozzi delivers fitness update on Jannik Sinner
Speaking on ESPN, Vagnozzi was open and straightforward when assessing his player’s fitness levels after retiring from the Cincinnati Open final.
Fortunately, he is optimistic about Jannik Sinner’s chances, admitting: “We’re very happy because Sinner needed two days of rest after Cincinnati.
Photo by Frey/TPN/
“It’s been two weeks of difficult conditions: it’s hot there and very humid, and with a virus, it was very difficult. We’re very happy with his performance in practice.
“Today was just the first day and it was useful to check his condition, the condition of the court, test the balls. There’s a big difference between here and Cincinnati. He definitely prefers it here much more than Cincinnati. Tomorrow we’ll try something more, today was just a test.”
This comes after Patrick McEnroe shared the good news he’d heard about Sinner, which corroborates this information.
How has Jannik Sinner’s preparation for the US Open been?
Given Darren Cahill offered a fitness update on Sinner too, we can safely assume that the 24-year-old will be fit and ready to defend his US Open crown.
However, having such an unceremonious end to his Cincinnati Open run was far from ideal, especially given it was the only preparatory tournament he decided to play ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year.
Skipping Washington due to its proximity to the Wimbledon final made sense, but in opting out of the Canadian Open, he took something of a risk.
That clearly did not pay off, as a mixture of illness and supremely tough conditions cut his Cincinnati tournament short.
Hopefully it has no long-term effects, and he can recapture his full fitness in time for what will be a tough title defence.