Jannik Sinner spoke about scheduling disparity, Jack Draper and his current form ahead of the second week at Roland Garros.
The world number one was in a hurry as he produced a devastating display against Jiri Lehecka on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
It was an incredible performance which saw Sinner win the first ten game on his way to a 6-0 6-1 6-2 victory.
Speaking about the nature of the victory Sinner admitted he was pleased with the nature of his win and admits he doesn’t want to waste too much time on court in the opening stages of Grand Slams, “Well, I think in early stages of Grand Slams is good that you don’t spend so much time, if you have the chance, on court. So I’m happy to do that,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference.
“In the other way, sometimes I think kind of matches like this, they can change quickly, you know, in any case, because if you don’t start well in one set and the match can go long, long, and then you cannot control it. We saw that, you know, in occasions here throughout the tournament. You have to have the focus level always very, very high, because unexpected things can happen. Of course, knowing now in the next-round match there is going to be very, very difficult. Also today, you know, Jiri is an amazing player. We know that.
“He has shown that throughout his career. Again, happy about how it’s going until now, but in the other way, things can change from one day to the other. We saw that in Rome. I played a nearly perfect match against Casper, and then I struggled the next round. Yeah, just trying to focus on every day, and we see how it goes.”
The Italian will aim to continue his good form into the next round where he will face Andrey Rublev.
However, after that the world number one could face Jack Draper in the quarter-finals who trounced Joao Fonseca 6-2 6-4 6-2.
When asked about Draper the Italian said that the British number one deserves every bit of his current success, “Well, I said, you know, he’s a kind of player who I think we all saw the potential he has or he had already couple of years ago. He was very unfortunate because he was injured, he went through very difficult moments, he has changed a little bit his team, and I feel like now he’s in a very consistent level of mental level and everything,” Sinner said in admiration of the British number one.
“I’m good friends with him. I’m very happy to have him as a friend, but he’s now there. Things are a little bit different. Of course, you know, we are very good friends off the court, but, you know, we practice a little bit less together, because we might know that we can face each other in the later stages of tournaments hopefully, because I always love to play against him.
“He’s a huge competitor, and I’m very happy for him. I’m the first person who is so happy for him. He’s gonna make an incredible career, you know. I wish him only the best. He’s a very consistent player since last year of US Open. You said this. This year maybe the most consistent player we have on tour, because he won big titles, he went far in every tournament.
“That means that you are feeling comfortable. You know, in every tournament, in every situation, he knows how to play, he knows how to handle it. So, again, mentally he’s in a very good moment, and I’m very happy for him. So I wish him only the best.”
Sinner and Draper are good friends and had a highly competitive match at the US Open last year which the Italian won in straight sets.
Now the two will hope to be rivals for a long time to come as a mouth-watering quarter-final could be approaching.
Finishing up his press conference Sinner spoke about the topic of scheduling disparity with Ons Jabeur passionately criticising the lack of opportunities for women in the night session.
The Italian said that things can change in the future but he doesn’t make the schedule, “I have heard some players, no? Look, we don’t make the schedule. You know, we are players, and we don’t make the schedule,” Sinner said.
“We have the same amount of men’s and woman’s matches on the big courts. We have the same amount of prize money on men’s and woman. You know, the night schedule, I don’t make the schedule, you know, so I cannot give you any feedback. So I don’t want to comment on that or go into details, no? I think we have equal so many things at the moment here, and it’s nice to see. So, yeah, maybe things can change in future.
“I mean, there is, in my point of view, men’s matches, they are best-of-five. We know that. Woman’s, they are best-of-three. If they want to put woman’s in the night, they have to put at least two matches, you know, because if someone has a bad day and someone a very good day, the match is over in less than an hour.
“So they could play potentially a couple of woman matches in the evening. A man’s, to put two matches there, it’s impossible, because it can go so long or you start at 6:00 and then it’s okay, but it’s too long. But in the other way, again, I’m not making the schedule. You know, all I know is that we still have the same amount of men’s and woman matches.
“Here, for example, on center court, there is two and two. The same is in Lenglen. The same in Simonne Mathieu at the moment. So there is quite a lot equal. But again, I don’t make the schedule, so yeah. If they want to put night sessions and woman, they have to play two, I guess.”
