Jannik Sinner makes his thoughts on Novak Djokovic battle at French Open very clear
Jannik Sinner can dethrone Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
Jannik Sinner is in with a good chance of dethroning Novak Djokovic as the world No. 1 after the French Open. It would be the first time the Italian reaches to the top of the rankings.
But the current world No. 2 made it clear that he isn’t bothered about his battle with Djokovic.
Sinner returned from a month-long injury layoff on Monday and defeated Christopher Eubanks 6-3 6-3 6-4 on Court Suzanna-Lenglen.
Having lost in the second round 12 months ago, he can now only gain ranking points and could emerge as the top-ranked man by the end of the fortnight. However, Sinner was nonchalant when asked about his chances to become the No. 1 for the first time.
“No. At the moment, honestly I'm not thinking,” he said. “I just try to get back where I want to be, as I said, trying to build confidence day by day. Every day for me, every shot I make or in practice session or in match for me is important at this moment.”
Sinner’s match against Eubanks was his first in almost a month as his clay season was derailed by a hip injury. The 22-year-old pulled out ahead of the Madrid Open and subsequently withdrew from his home tournament, the Italian Open.
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There were doubts over whether he would make it to Paris. After getting off to a strong start on Monday, Sinner explained that he was simply happy to be back on court. He continued: “I'm just looking forward to compete. I mean, I love the competition. We can practice a lot, but without competition, it's not so much fun.
And the Australian Open champion is taking comfort in the knowledge that he has plenty of time to get to No. 1 in the world. “I know the scenarios, yes, but it's not about this at the moment,” he added.
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“For sure it's a dream, yes, but in another way, I'm very relaxed. If it happens, it's great and I'm very happy. If not, you know, I am very young still. You know, hopefully I can get to that point, and I'm just looking forward to compete again in two days and we'll see how I feel there on court.”
Sinner can control his own fate by reaching the final to seal his spot atop the rankings. Even if Djokovic won the title, he would be ahead in ranking points. But the 22-year-old could still get to world No. 1 without going so deep in the tournament depending on Djokovic’s run. Now that Sinner has made it to the second round, Djokovic must reach at least the semi-final to have a shot at keeping his ranking.