Jannik Sinner has made it clear that he will only play at the Miami Open if he is feeling 100% in terms of his fitness following a brutal match against Carlos Alcaraz.
The two rising stars of the men’s game delivered yet another classic encounter as they produced exhibition tennis during their semi-final match of the Indian Wells Open.
Sinner had the early advantage, but defending champion Alcaraz eventually found his rhythm and came away with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in just over two hours with the result earning him a spot in the final against Daniil Medvedev.
For Sinner, it was the end of his unbeaten streak as went into the match having won 19 matches in a row, including 16 in 2024 following his Australian Open and Rotterdam Open title runs.
But the streak is now over and he admitted he made some mistakes after the first set.
“It’s for sure not the ending that I wanted, but, you know, playing against him, it’s always tough,” the 22-year-old said.
“I tried to, yeah, to play obviously good tennis, which I have done, especially the first set. Then I made a couple of mistakes. You know, the momentum has changed. He raised his level.”
Sinner took a nasty tumble early in the deciding set and he appeared to injure his elbow, but he continued and after the match when Alcaraz asked him about his injury he replied: “I don’t know. We will see tomorrow.”
READ MORE: What Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Jannik Sinner means for the ATP Rankings
There is no time to rest as the Miami Open gets underway in a couple of days, but Sinner says he will only play if he is 100%.
The world No 3 added: “That’s it. Obviously tough one to swallow, but, you know, hopefully we will see in the next days if physically I will be good for Miami, which is for me personally the most important.”
The world No 3 was also seen flexing his left leg at one point and when asked during the post-match press conference about his injuries and he admitted his serve was affected by the elbow problem.
“At the moment, I feel a little bit of everything on my body (smiling). But it’s normal. It’s sport. You know, you have to accept this,” he said.
“I had some problems, just small problems, but it was okay throughout until the third set. Then when I fell, I felt a little bit the elbow because I fell over the elbow and I rolled over. So was for me after tough to serve.
“But he makes things very difficult to play obviously. He puts a lot of pressure on you. You know, he changed a couple of things today, like, tactically, which I have to watch out for the next time. I have to improve couple of things and trying to beat him again.
“I think that’s also the good and positive side of this sport.”
