Federer's former coach explains why Sinner might struggle to defend US Open title: 'It becomes difficult to regain...'

Jannik Sinner has been among the standout performers in men’s tennis in the last couple of years. Not only has the Italian won back-to-back Australian Open titles during this period, he also won his maiden US Open last September and Wimbledon last month during this period and nearly added the French Open to his cabinet in June.

However, former Croatian tennis player Ivan Ljubicic – who had coached the legendary Roger Federer from 2016 until his retirement in 2022 – feels the world No 1 might struggle at Flushing Meadows over the course of the next couple of weeks after a recent bout of illness.

Sinner, after all, was unwell on the day of his Cincinnati Open final against fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz and chose to retire while he was trailing 0-5 in the opening set. His health issues would then force him to withdraw from the inaugural US Open Mixed Doubles event, leading to concerns over his men’s singles title defence in New York.

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And Ljubicic feels the illness could affect Sinner’s form over the course of the final Grand Slam of the year, especially if he spends an extended period of time away from the court in order to recover.

“If he recovers in two-three days, there won’t be any setbacks. If, however, he has to rest for the entire week, then it becomes difficult to regain the form needed to win a Slam,” Ljubicic, semi-finalist at the 2006 French Open, told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Even though Jannik will have more manageable opponents in the early rounds, the distance of three out of five sets, the heat, and the humidity of Flushing Meadows could cause him to lose a lot of energy,” the former world No 3 added.

Sinner and Alcaraz ‘clearly ahead of others’, feels Ljubicic

Ljubicic, however, added that Sinner and Alcaraz remain " clearly ahead" of other players in the current generation, and that he would be surprised if the two did not compete in a third consecutive Grand Slam final, Sinner’s health notwithstanding.

Sinner and Alcaraz have accounted for the last seven Grand Slam men’s singles titles, and are strong favourites for another final showdown, having been placed on opposite ends of the draw.

“Rightly not counting Cincinnati, Alcaraz leads 5-2 in their head-to-head matches on hard courts. At the same time, Sinner plays his best on this surface. All things considered, I’d say they’d start on equal terms, especially since their matches are always very close.

“They’re certainly clearly ahead of everyone else; I’d be surprised if they didn’t make it to the final, with Jannik’s health still a question mark,” Ljubicic added.