Sinner: 'The hip feels good... but we cannot make miracles'

Jannik Sinner delivered both good news and bad news ahead of Roland Garros at his pre-tournament press conference on Friday. As the Italian prepares to compete for the first time since a hip injury forced him to pull out of Madrid, his health is looking up — but concerns remain about his fitness.

"The hip feels good. I'm happy to be here," said Sinner, who would rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings by reaching the final. "For sure, the general physical shape is not there where I want it to be, but we cannot make miracles in less than 10 days before the first-round match."

Sinner said he just started playing points three days ago when he arrived in Paris. Lacking rhythm, he's not expecting to find much of it in his opening match against the big-serving Christopher Eubanks, who will likely seek to attack and keep point short. Sinner won their lone previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in straight sets at the 2022 US Open.

As he prepares to play his first major as a Grand Slam champion, the reigning Australian Open titlist feels he has a clean bill of health: "I'm not concerned anymore about my hip," he said. "The last tests we made, they were very positive. That's why I'm here."

Instead, his primary concerns centre on his game and his fitness after almost three weeks without hitting a ball. Knowing he will take some time to round into form on the match court, he is mentally gearing up for the challenge.

"Most importantly it's going to be the mental side of being mentally ready, accepting things that could happen on the court, and then we see what I can do," he said, later adding: "I know in my mind that I can play good tennis even with this kind of shape where I am right now, and hopefully I can stay here longer than last year. I made second round last year. Let's see what I can do this year."

💪🏼💪🏼⏳🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/9buciPE4fg

— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) May 18, 2024

Sinner's best Roland Garros result was a quarter-final showing in his 2020 tournament debut. He reached the fourth round in 2021 and 2022 before suffering a five-set defeat to Daniel Altmaier last year in the second round.

With uncertainty surrounding fellow favourites Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal entering this year's event, opportunity knocks if the Italian can rediscover his best tennis. While he is aware of the seemingly wide-open draw in Paris, Sinner's focus remains firmly on his own game.

"At the moment, I look a lot about myself. I'm not looking around so much," he said. "I come to the club, I do my things, and I'm away again.

'So I know that might be a little bit more open... Hopefully I can show some good tennis. That's the only thing I think about, and the rest, all these question will be answered in a little bit more than two weeks. Nobody can tell the future," he said with a smile.

While Sinner must reach the final to guarantee himself a debut as World No. 1, he will also rise to the top of the PIF ATP Rankings if Djokovic fails to reach the semis.