ANDY RODDICK SENDS JANNIK SINNER NO 1 RANKING WARNING AS HE ISSUES NOVAK DJOKOVIC CLAIM
Andy Roddick believes Jannik Sinner has to play a lot of tournaments and “run up the scoreboard” in order to attain the world No 1 ranking.
The 2003 US Open champion argued it is “not realistic” to win three of the four Grand Slams in a season to claim top spot like tennis legends Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Sinner is currently at a career-high ranking of world No 2, with 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic at the pinnacle of the ATP Rankings.
The Italian star will have the opportunity to dethrone the great Serbian as the world No 1 if he competes at the upcoming French Open.
His participation at Roland Garros is in doubt, though, due to the hip injury that forced him to withdraw from the ongoing Italian Open.
Sinner has been the outstanding player of 2024 so far and sits top of the ATP Race to Turin Rankings with 4,500 points. The 22-year-old holds a 28-2 record and has claimed three titles, including his maiden Grand Slam at the 2024 Australian Open.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is 12th in the Race on 1,360 points after what has been a subpar season so far when judged by his lofty standards. The 36-year-old is yet to reach a final this year and he fell to a surprising third round loss to Alejandro Tabilo in Rome on Sunday.
During an episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Roddick shared his thoughts on Sinner’s injury and his world No 1 hopes.
“Sinner this week got hurt, aggravated his hip doing full gym workouts during Madrid, because there’s no other time for him to do it. And the guy wants to be No 1 in the world,” said the American, who is a former world No 1.
“To be No 1, if you’re not Federer and Novak, you have to play tournaments, you have to run up the scoreboard. Not everyone is Novak and wins three of four Majors in a year to be ranked No 1.
“That’s not a realistic thing. Especially when you’re trying to get there for the first time. You have to hustle, even Roger, even Novak, even Rafa [Nadal] played a s**tload of events to get to No 1 in the world [the first time]. Sinner has to play these Masters 1000s.
“The fact that Jannik Sinner feels the need to do a full gym workout during a tournament to the point of intensity where you’re hurting your hip, it’s just tough, but it sucks. Because, I mean, they have to do it.
“You have to do the work, but there’s also a fine line where you have to play matches. Probably shouldn’t be doing both in the same week. There’s a lot of stress that goes along with both of these things.”
2024-05-14T14:33:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd