It is rare to hear a player say they are going to treat a Masters 1000 event as a training week but this is exactly what Jannik Sinner plans to do in Monte Carlo.
The in-form Italian comes into his first clay event of the 2024 season regarded as the best player currently on the Tour based on results. Sinner has won 22 out of 23 matches played so far this year with his only loss being to Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals in Indian Wells. He captured his first major trophy at the Australian Open before then going on to win titles in Rotterdam and Miami.
However, it remains to see how the 22-year-old will fair on the European dirt. Out of his 13 ATP titles, only one of those was achieved at a clay tournament which was back in 2022 at the Umag Open.
“The expectations are not that high for this for this beginning of clay,” Sinner said during a pre-tournament press conference on Sunday.
“The goal is to be ready for Rolanda Garros and then hopefully the Olympics. This is…I guess for all the players the goal, to try to be in top form there.
“We will take this week as a practice week, playing with matches, hopefully, more than one match but you know, it’s it’s gonna be interesting to see. I’m just happy to be here. It’s a special tournament and hopefully I can perform in a good way.”
Whilst the majority of his success has been on a hardcourt, Sinner is confident that he can be a threat on other surfaces. He is a former French Open quarter-finalist back in 2020 and also reached the last four in Monte Carlo 12 months ago.
“I feel more comfortable on hard courts, which doesn’t mean that I that I’m not a good player on clay. I played my first Grand Slam quarter-finals on clay, at Roland-Garros, I made quarters in Rome.” He stated.
“So let’s see. Talking about last year, (it) was not my best season on clay. Hopefully I can change it this year. But you know, I’m confident that I can be a good player also on clay. It takes time for sure.
“I used to practice a lot on clay when I was 14 to 20. But then after most of the tournaments, they were hardcourt tournaments. So you play a little bit less but you know, I’m very excited to be here. I think if you make the clay with a good friendship, it can help.”
Sinner comes into Monte Carlo having already registered nine victories over top-20 players since the start of January. Overall, 18 out of his 22 wins so far this season have been in straight sets. He now finds himself ranked No.2 in the PIF ATP rankings, which is the highest position ever achieved by a player from Italy in the history of the rankings system.
As for Monte Carlo, the growingly popular Sinner is banking on support from the crowd with the tournament taking place not too far from his homeland.
“I really like this tournament,” Sinner said. “I live here, so I always come here to practise. Seeing the site in a different way is very special. The crowd is usually very good, lots of Italians. It is going to be an amazing tournament. I love to play here.”
Sinner will face either Sebastian Korda or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opening match.
note – quotes via Tennis Majors/Monte Carlo official website
