Sinner, on the ground in Madrid: “I still can’t compare myself”

Jannik Sinner he just wants to understand.

Your game, your strokes, each new tournament: everything is an opportunity for your mind to understand how things work.

The Italian, who will compete for the third time Madrid Masters 1,000but first as the highest seed, this Tuesday showed his impressions of the event and in just seven minutes he referred up to four times to his need to understand what was happening to him.

This year’s winner at Australiain Rotterdam and in Miamisemi-finalist in Indian Wells and in Monte CarloSinner said that being the first favorite in Magic Boxafter the descent of Novak Djokovic“it’s a great pleasure but, at the same time, it doesn’t change anything”

“I’m here trying to understand my game on clay better, which is different from other tournaments because you play high and the ball flies,” he said. “Last years, I struggled to find my level here, so it will be interesting how I play this year. That’s the most important thing,” he added.

“I’m delighted to be here, especially since I didn’t play last year. It’s a very special tournament,” he said.

The Italian is out of the 2023 edition due to an injury that occurred last week in Gothic. In 2022 they reached eighth and in 2021, sixteenth.

Sinner did not show any kind of bitterness over last week’s refereeing error in Monte Carlo, which decided the semi-final of the tournament in favor of the Greek. Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“These things can happen, anyone can make mistakes. There are much worse things in life. The next day it’s over,” he said calmly.

At 22 years old, in victory and defeat, the Sinner shows a prudence that is difficult to change. He thinks before making every comment and measures his words as much as his punches.

“I don’t want to put pressure on myself. I am experiencing a very positive moment and I will try to continue like this. In my mind I know I can do it and I must improve if I want to win more,” he said before the challenge in Madrid.

Are the conditions of the Spanish capital (657 m) in your favor?: “If I can find my game, yes. But I still need to know. I still have three days of training before my first match, so let’s see next Sunday “.

The number two in the rankings, but leading this year, did not comment on who is the best player on the circuit today.

“It’s hard to say. I think I still can’t compare myself with Novak, nor with Carlos (Alcaraz), who has won more than me. I have a lot of respect for both of them, and not just for them. I’m just trying to play my game and,” he said again, “figure out what’s best for me and see what I can get.”

Among his goals this year he mentioned “for sure, the Olympic Games”

“They are important events, I did not play the last ones and I am happy that I am now part of the group of athletes,” he said. What he hopes for the Paris Games is to talk to many of those Olympic stars to… “to try to understand how they think and how they prepare.”

The sinner arrived in Madrid, territory given to Rafael Nadal, and shared with emotion his first memories of the Spanish player.

“It was when I was 14 or 15 years old and I saw him training in Rome. It was the first time I saw him in person. It was incredible to see his intensity, something that is the same now. That passion,” he said. .

He also spoke about how his first Grand Slam melted away over time, in Australia.

“For me, it’s more important how I experience the sport in general. I’m the kind of person who surrounds himself with good people, who tries to receive positive information. Before the final I was nervous, of course, but even that I lost. it’s going to be a good week”, he said.

Now he wants another victory, in Madrid. And he again appealed to the need to understand: “I want to do it again here. Understand what I did in Monaco. It’s a new tournament and we’ll see how it goes.”