It’s been almost a week since one of the greatest finals in Grand Slam history, and Jannik Sinner is set to play again.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Sinner in the French Open final, coming back from two sets down to clinch his second consecutive Roland Garros title.
The match, lasting five hours and 29 minutes, marked the third time in the Open Era that a men’s player has lost a major final after having match points.
Sinner joined Roger Federer and Guillermo Coria as the third man to have the undesirable statistic attached to his name, after failing to capitalise on three championship points in the fourth set.
The Italian will now enter the Halle Open, where he’ll play his first match since the loss to Alcaraz, which he reflected on ahead of the grass-court tournament.
Photo by THIBAUD MORITZ/AFP via Getty ImagesJannik Sinner reflects on the French Open final one week on
Speaking ahead of his Halle Open campaign, Sinner said of the Roland Garros final: “It was for sure a tough loss. Looking back, I still think about those couple of points.”
“And it won’t stop here. I know that. But in another way, I am happy to be here, I’m happy to start a new tournament – I think this helps me get back into match rhythm.
“Let’s see how I’m gonna react. You can’t see the negative side, but you can still see the positive side.
“I’ve never played tennis on clay like this. I went into Rome, and I made the final there. I played in Paris and made the final of a Grand Slam.
“It’s amazing. The level we have played me and Carlos was extremely high, so I was happy to be a part of this.”
Jannik Sinner’s draw at the Halle Open
Sinner is the first seed at the Halle Open, and will be the heavy favourite at the event, where he’ll want to build some momentum on grass ahead of Wimbledon.
In round one, he’ll play a qualifier and will face one of Alexandre Muller or Alexander Bublik should he advance.
The other seeded players in his half of the draw are Andrey Rublev, Tomas Mahac, and Karen Khachanov.
On the other side, potential final opponents come in the form of world number three Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and wildcard Joao Fonseca.