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Jannik Sinner and Emma Raducanu topped the 'the most disappointing players of the season' list published by French newspaper L'Equipe. Former Australian player Rennae Stubbs has expressed her rage at the media outlet for such a step.
Sport & performance psychologist Daria Abramowicz, who has worked with World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, criticized the newspaper, calling the idea "disappointing", prompting Stubbs to react furiously.
"Ideas like this one are disappointing. Why would they even publish that kind of 'rankings'?" Abramowicz tweeted.
"Absolutely ridiculous," Stubbs wrote in reply.
The reasons that the newspaper mentioned for the Italian player's top position included his fall in the ATP rankings — from No. 10 at the start of the year to No. 15 at the end. It also stated that Jannik Sinner, who turned pro in 2018 and has won six singles titles on the tour to date, could only manage to win one tournament in 2022 — the ATP 250 Croatia Open.
The 21-year-old failed in a couple of crucial matches despite being in a good position to seal the win. He was leading Novak Djokovic by two sets in their Wimbledon quarterfinal clash but allowed the eventual champion to crawl his way back and win 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. In the US Open quarterfinals against World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the Spaniard saved a match point in the fourth set to prevail in the fifth as he won 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3.
Sinner also lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the Australian Open quarterfinals, while retiring mid-match against Andrey Rublev in the fourth round of the French Open. He finished the year with a win-loss record of 47-16.
"In his three Grand Slam quarterfinals, he has never been able to get past the round. Listless against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Melbourne, no solution against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon despite him leading by two sets, and finally overwhelmed by Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open in a monumental match," L'Equipe wrote.
L'Equipe also declared Emma Raducanu the most disappointing player among women. The 2021 US Open winner struggled with multiple injuries and fell to No. 80 after achieving a career-high ranking of No. 10 in July.
"I want to get back to playing the ATP Finals" - Jannik Sinner on his 2023 goals
While Jannik Sinner reached the quarterfinals in three Grand Slam tournaments in 2022, the 21-year-old wants to improve his performance next year. To do that, he hopes to be injury-free next season.
Speaking on the ATP podcast recently, the Italian stated that he wanted to play at the year-end championships next year.
"I'm aiming for Turin, I want to get back to playing the Nitto ATP Finals. I know I can do it, but it will be decisive not to miss important matches and tournaments as I was forced to do this year," Sinner said.
