Jannik Sinner was a major doubt to play Roland Garros, but positive updates regarding his injury came to light on Saturday.
Sinner has been out of action since the end of April. He picked up a hip injury while playing Pavel Kotov in the third round of the Madrid Open. Although he won the match in straight sets, he was visibly in pain and signaled to his coach, Simone Vagnozzi, who urged him to continue.
Sinner went on to play the fourth-round match against Karen Khachanov and won, but by that point, the damage had been done. He pulled out before his quarterfinal match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Experienced commentator Rob Koenig has criticized the decision to play in Madrid, blaming coach Vagnozzi. Sinner exacerbated the pain, couldn’t train before the Italian Open, and was forced to withdraw from the event.
Earlier this week, Sinner completed rehab at the Juventus Medical Centre, a state-of-the-art healthcare center for the Italian football club Juventus. Italian sports outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the 22-year-old would undergo tests before deciding on his involvement at the French Open.
There were fears Sinner would pull out from the clay Slam before the end of this week, with doctors warning the Australian Open champion that it would be a risk to play in Paris in the current conditions.
But Sinner’s rehabilitation period in Turin has been positive and effective because it has enabled the World No. 2 to pick up a racket and train in Monaco, where he resides. He shared a photo of his practice session on clay on Instagram.
In an even more important update for Sinner’s fans, his Australian coach, Darren Cahill, posted on his own Instagram account a photo of the Roland Garros tennis balls with the caption, “Terre Battue.”
Positive signs for Jannik Sinner, judging by that caption 💪 pic.twitter.com/PJrRGmun2x
— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) May 18, 2024