Jannik Sinner’s fitness in focus ahead of Wimbledon title defence

Italy’s Jannik Sinner returns (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Tech Word News at Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner arrived at Wimbledon without leaving anything to chance.After a dramatic collapse in the second round of the French Open, where he was on the verge of victory before melting in the heat, the 24-year-old underwent a series of tests to understand what his body was trying to tell him. He responded by training longer in testing conditions and resisted the temptation to fill his schedule with the tournament.Yet, with temperatures forecast to climb above 30C during the second week of The Championships, the episode – where Sinner appeared in complete control against Juan Manuel Cerúndol, leading 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 before his energy levels dropped alarmingly – reopened lingering questions.Former Davis Cupper and commentator Prahlad Srinath scores on the start of Sinner’s season, which saw him win a historic five consecutive Masters titles between March and May.“By the end of his first-round bout in Paris, he was already looking at his box in distraught. He looked physically shaken and exhausted,” Srinath said.In south-west London, where Sinner opens his title defense against Miomir Kecmanovic on Monday under pleasant skies and temperatures not expected to exceed 24C, he should have little trouble hitting the tee. Still, match play is a different matter than training.“In practice, you might hit 500 balls, but it’s a structured, predictable practice,” explained Srinath, now a coach. “You can predict and control the movement. And when a person is tired, we can handle the load, the intensity and the volume. But in a match, your stroke production is explosive, it doesn’t matter if it’s five balls or 500 balls. It takes maximum effort.”Sinner himself acknowledged the gap between training and competition. “Obviously you can’t 100% simulate what you feel in a match. We made some changes (after Paris), I won’t say big changes. I believe in the details. At the moment we are happy with what we are doing, but the result we will not see here. It is a long process, there is no magic.”Yash Pandey, a high-performance sports physiotherapist for the Indian Davis Cup team, agrees.The Italian, who has never won a match lasting more than 3 hours 50 minutes and holds a record of 6-12 in five-set matches, will nevertheless be pushed to take the scenic route if he is to go deep into the tournament.“It will be a process for him,” Pandey said, adding that despite concerns surrounding the Italian, he remains the favourite. “He also knows the only way he’s going to lose is because of his fitness. I don’t see anyone else right now unless someone comes out really strong on a particular day. It could happen, but Sinner is the player to beat.”The conversation about numbers and their fragility does not end with Sinner. Aryna Sabalenka’s surprise collapse from a winning position in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros suggests that even the most physically demanding tennis players can operate closer to the edge than they appear, even when they are in complete control of the match. While Sinner’s problem appears to be physical, Sabalenčin’s appears to be more mental.The 28-year-old revealed that after Roland Garros she spoke again with a psychologist she had previously worked with and felt it was the right move at this stage of her season.“I feel like I need someone to bounce all my thoughts off of to clear my head a bit before the big tournament,” she said. “I have my team, we talk a lot. Sometimes you have things you don’t want to throw at your team. It’s really important to have someone you can talk to and feel safe with.”