Jannik Sinner has insisted he isn’t fearful concerning the begin of the season after struggling a heavy defeat to Jakub Mensik in Doha.
The world No. 2 was trying to emulate rival Carlos Alcaraz by reaching the semi-finals of the Qatar Open, however was defeated by the 20-year-old Mensik 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3.
Whereas the Czech participant performed an awesome recreation and is without doubt one of the brightest abilities of the brand new era, Sinner made some sudden errors, particularly from his forehand, which was one other blow after his loss to Novak Djokovic within the Australian Open semi-finals.
Thursday evening marked the primary time since October 2023 that the 24-year-old Sinner was defeated on a tough courtroom by a participant ranked outdoors the highest 10, however he hadn’t missed the finals in back-to-back tournaments for the reason that summer season of 2024.
“His serve was actually good, so it was tough to return,” Sinner stated. “The break within the third run was robust, with some errors. After all it could actually occur, however on the similar time I am slightly disenchanted in the best way we dealt with the second.”
“Each participant has ups and downs. I’ve had an awesome two years. I’ve had some downs, however I am not fearful. I do know I can play slightly higher tennis.”
A 12 months in the past, Sinner started a three-month doping ban after reaching an settlement with the World Anti-Doping Company and didn’t return till the Rome Masters in Could.
It will permit Sinner to organize for subsequent month’s Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, the place he hopes to shut the hole on Alcaraz within the rankings, which may attain greater than 3,000 factors by the top of the week.
