Jannik Sinner insists he is ready to defend his Wimbledon title despite going into the tournament with a lack of action on grass courts.
Sinner hasn’t played since suffering a shock defeat against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round of the French Open in May.
Instead of maximising his time on grass ahead of Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, the Italian has opted to rest before stepping up his practice schedule after arriving in London.
It is the first time Sinner has stayed away from the Wimbledon warm-up events prior to playing in the grass-court Grand Slam.
“I feel good. I think grass is very different surface obviously. If you play a tournament before here, maybe it’s not going the way you would like to, you come here with some doubts. If you don’t play any tournament, you don’t have these doubts, you just go and play,” Sinner told reporters on Saturday.
Sinner opens his bid for a second successive Wimbledon crown against Serbian World No.51 Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court on Monday.
“First rounds, they’re always going to be very tough. I know that mentally. We are preparing ourself in the best possible way,” Sinner said.
20
No. of match wins for Italy’s Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon across 24 ties