Sinner's Bitter Defeat to Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo Semifinal Due to Physical Issue

A defeat that tastes like mockery for Jannik Sinner, who in the Monte Carlo semifinal had to essentially hand over the victory to Tsitsipas, due to a physical problem. The Italian player stopped in the third set, with the score at 3-2, calling the physiotherapist twice in quick succession. Probably a build-up of fatigue and stress, also due to a refereeing error that had penalized him shortly before, as highlighted by Jannik himself at the end of the match. From that moment on, Sinner was not able to perform at his best and lost a match that he had turned around, after losing the first set, and was controlling with great skill. Now the most important thing is to understand the real conditions of the South Tyrolean in view of the next commitments on clay. Yesterday's event should be a simple hiccup due to the accumulation of consecutive matches. In the beginning of 2024, Jannik had a very demanding schedule, starting from the Australian Open and continuing with Rotterdam, Indian Wells, Miami, and the same Monte Carlo tournament where he reached almost the end. Certainly, Jannik will not play the ATP 500 in Barcelona, scheduled from April 15 to 21. The Italian tennis player will dedicate himself to intense preparation for the upcoming commitments, so as to recover from the cramp issue that forced him to say goodbye to Monte Carlo yesterday. Therefore, he will lose 90 points, not so many as to cause him problems in terms of ranking. We will see Sinner back on the court at the Masters 1000 in Madrid (April 24-May 5) but as stated by Jannik himself, it will only be a preparatory tournament for the big event, that of the Foro Italico in Rome (May 8-19) and especially the Roland Garros (May 26-June 9): "Madrid will be a tournament of total preparation for Rome and Paris, we will work a lot in the gym. If I win one or two rounds it will be very good for me, the goal will certainly not be aiming for the title." Viewing figures for the match between Sinner and Tsitsipas are always at the top for tennis on Sky: yesterday's semifinal between Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo - from 1:30 pm on Sky Sport Uno and Sky Sport Tennis - collected an average of 940 thousand overall viewers and over 2 million unique viewers, with an 8% share. The peak of 1 million 137 thousand viewers was recorded during the decisive phases of the third set.