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Serena Williams’ ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who is currently coaching Naomi Osaka, commented on Jannik Sinner’s return to the tennis court. Sinner had expressed no expectations from the tournament in a pre-tournament press conference in Rome, and Mouratoglou agrees with that notion.
The World No.1 was under a three-month ban due to two positive tests of clostebol in March 2024. His suspension ended on May 4, allowing him to participate in the Masters event in his home country. The last tournament he played was in January, where he won the Australian Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the finals in three straight sets.
Now, the Italian will be playing a professional match after a gap of almost four months. He is the top seed at the tournament, due to which he received a first-round bye at the Italian Open. He will lock horns with Mariano Navone on May 10 in the second round.
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Mouratoglou shared a clip on his Instagram handle, explaining how difficult it is for a player to compete in a tournament after a lack of match practice.
“The first reaction when you hear Jannik say that he has no expectations, you think, what are you talking about? The guy is number one in the world, he has been winning so much those last months and years. Of course, he was three months off, but it’s difficult not to have expectations, but on the other hand, I believe him. I think being out for three months, just watching others competing, winning and not being able to play matches. You can train as much as you want, nothing replaces matches,” Mouratoglou said.
Renowned mentor believes that all the aspects of Sinner would be at par, but it’s difficult to gauge when it’s not tested during a match situation.
“And I’m sure his forehand is great, his backhand is great, his serve is great, his movement is great but he didn’t play match for a long time now. And it’s difficult to assess where you are. And if you see players when they are lacking matches, they are really looking for their game. Everytime you work on something in practice you have to be able to achieve during matches to have it really inside you,” he further explained.
The coach believes that the initial phase of the tournament will be a real challenge for the 23-year-old, but he will adjust as the tournament progresses.
“This first tournament for Jannik, I think it’s difficult. If he manages to win 3,4,5 matches, I mean 3,4,5 he was going to get the title or almost. Let’s say 3 matches then he’s going to start to really feel better on the court. But the first three is at risk, he’ not making fun of us,” Mouratoglou stated.
Mouratoglou had even commented on the lack of efficacy by the authorities who handed down the ban to Jannik Sinner.
Serena Williams’ ex-coach had slammed the whole system for imposing a three-month ban on Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner had accepted a three-month ban as a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Sinner was given a clean chit by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), but WADA challenged the decision and took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), seeking a two-year ban.
On the whole situation, Mouratoglou had shared a clip on his Instagram handle, where he criticised how the case was handled and highlighted various inconsistencies.
“I think this Sinner case is a huge scandal. It’s not about him being guilty or not, the question is more about how the anti-doping dealt with the situation. Everybody feels that there’s a double standard which is the case clearly,” he said.
The French coach even emphasised his belief in Sinner’s innocence.
“It’s very unlikely that he did doping, this is really a personal statement: I don’t think it’s his mindset at all, his mentality to do doping, first. Second, when you find such low levels of a forbidden product in someone, in 90% of the cases, if not more, it is a contamination and the player is a victim so that’s why I think he is innocent,” Mourtoglou further expressed.
Sinner’s doping case has sparked numerous controversies in the tennis world, raising questions about how authorities handle doping cases.
