Jannik Sinner shares fitness update and targets China Open title defence

Jannik Sinner has provided an update on his physical condition as he prepares for the China Open, following his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open final.

Sinner, who lost his world number one ranking to Alcaraz after that defeat, is now turning his attention to the ATP 500 event in Beijing.

“After the US Open, the body’s in good shape. Mind also. Had some good time off after US Open,” he said. “Yeah, we are preparing ourselves in the best possible way.”

While Sinner has expressed confidence in his fitness, Marin Cilic presents a real challenge.

The veteran Croatian became the oldest grass-court champion on the ATP Challenger Tour this season and knocked out Jack Draper at Wimbledon.

Sinner reflects on US Open loss and adapting to Alcaraz

During the same press conference, Sinner was asked about how his game matches up against Alcaraz’s.

A reporter asked: “Back to the US Open. You were so honest and candid after the loss about the talk of wanting to add unpredictability to your game.

“Carlos had said, ‘Yeah, we had a training block dedicated to getting better at dealing with Jannik’s game.’ A lot of honesty from two rivals.

“How long had you been thinking about where your game was stacking up against Carlos’, where you needed to improve, even before the US Open final?”

Sinner replied: “Well, the situation of what I’ve been through throughout this year has not been easy, starting with great run in Australia obviously. Afterwards, whatever happened, happened.

“I didn’t play a big amount of tournaments, too, I have to say. This is only my eighth tournament of the year, which is not much. We are heading already in [towards] the end of the year.

“But at the same time, look, we’ve been reflecting a lot on that final. We are working on new things. We are changing a lot of small things where I’m thinking of now. The amount of mistakes at the moment is for sure a little bit higher, but I hope that this after recovers in a very positive way.”

Sinner added: “It’s just a question of time. Let’s see how long it takes me; let’s see how much I am able to do it also on actual match court because one thing is practice and one thing is match.

“Yeah, I’m very motivated. It’s great to work on something new then we see how this ends up. We always try to move forward one step in front is always better than two steps back so let’s see what we can do.”