Jannik Sinner Looks Back on His Epic French Open Final With Alcaraz—and Tells Us How He's Preparing for Wimbledon
If you didn't see the men's final at this year's French Open, you likely heard about the match that was almost instantly dubbed one of the best of all time. After holding three match points on his serve against Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner saw the next two sets slip away until Alcaraz seized victory with a fifth-set tiebreak win. After the accolades (and the heartbreak) had a moment to settle, the question then became: How does Jannik Sinner, the world's number-one ranked player, recover from this? What does he do next? And how is he preparing for Wimbledon, which starts Monday, as Alcaraz goes for a three-peat? We called the three-time Grand Slam champion to find out.
Vogue: Where did you go and what did you do after that epic final at Roland-Garros?
Jannik Sinner: I went home to my parents' place [in the South Tyrol region of northeast Italy] and spent some time with them and with my friends and doing just normal stuff. We made barbecue, I played some table tennis with my friends—it was some good time off, and then after some days, I came to prepare for the tournament here. So, yeah—everything was good, was relaxed, and now I'm back—so let's see what we can do.
I'm sure you're eager to move forward from the French, but if I could just ask: Is it easier to deal with this kind of loss when everyone's saying it's one of the greatest matches in recent tennis history? Does that make you somehow more proud to be part of that—or does it make it even harder to deal with?
No, no—look, when I see how people talk about this match, I'm honestly happy to have been a part of it. People will, of course, remember who won and who lost, but they will also remember how good the match was—and to make a good match, you need two players, and I was one of them. So, of course it hurt—it still hurts at times—but it is what it is. When I was a kid, I would have never expected to play a final of a Grand Slam, or to be in the position I am in, so everything now is just positive. I understood the potential I have, but on the other hand, you just have to keep working, keep believing, keep searching for things you have to do better if you want to become a better player.
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