Sinner’s war cry against the clock
MADRID — Jannik Sinner does not mince words. After sweeping Cameron Norrie 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16 of the Madrid Open, the world number 1 fired a direct shot at the organization: the night session “spoils the tennis players’ entire day.”
“Even if you have the day off, the fans only see us on the track, and then we finish at 1:15 (in the morning). But then you have a press conference, recovery, eating, treatment… Anyway, you don’t go to bed until 4 or 5. It disrupts your whole day. So I think we can definitely do better from this point of view.”
Sinner, who has 20 consecutive victories, knows that this is not just a whim. It’s survival. “It’s not easy for our body and mind,” he said, with the look of someone who has seen how fatigue breaks careers.
The Jódar case: when tennis becomes a night marathon
The Spanish Rafael Jódar, his next rival, is the perfect example. On Monday, Jódar finished his match against Joao Fonseca at 1 a.m. And on Tuesday, with barely hours of sleep, he beat Vit Kopriva 7-5, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of a Masters for the first time. Coincidence or miracle?
“It’s hard when you schedule two matches that start at 8 (at night). You can’t expect the matches to finish in an hour and a half each, and that the first match is already over at 11. When Jódar played at night it was very, very late: he went out on the court around 11 and finished around 1. From my point of view, that’s too late.”
Sinner, with the clarity of someone who has run to the limit, proposed common sense: “He needs a little more rest.” And on Wednesday, at 4 p.m. in the Magic Box, they will face each other. I hope the clock is not the toughest rival.
