After the Indian Wells victory, Jannik prepares for Miami: “I trained more in California because it rained in Monte Carlo…”
The secret of the victory at Indian Wells and the rediscovered reform? The rain in Monte Carlo, Jannik Sinner revealed after the victory in California, the twenty-fifth of his already fantastic career: “In Doha I lost to Mensik and I didn’t feel like I was playing the best tennis. But it can happen: like this I wanted to return to Monte Carlo, but the weather there was terrible. And then I decided to leave immediately for Indian Wells. It was one of the tournaments I had never won, so it was right to arrive very early, trying to concentrate on the course. In California there were also a couple of friends who helped me not to always think only about tennis. We went to play some golf. And in the evening a bit of PlayStation. And it was beautiful.” In California Jannik forgot the defeats suffered in Australia and Qatar, he acclimatised despite the temperature of over thirty degrees and worked hard on the shots where he still wants to improve. The final with Medvedev demonstrated how important the effectiveness of the serve is at this level, but Sinner as usual was able to read the decisive moments of the match in the best possible way and now in Miami he is looking for an encore.
And when everything seemed lost…
In the tie-break of the second set Sinner’s fate now seemed sealed, the third set seemed inevitable. Yet Sinner has once again emerged from a desperate situation. He explains how: «At 4-0 for Daniil I tried to get the next point: if you go 5-0 it’s very different to 4-1. I always kept believing and pushed a little harder, that was the key. In the last two years I have changed my approach, I am more relaxed. For example, when I arrived at Indian Wells, I always felt a little down, now I have a different attitude. Ultimately, this is a mental sport, I try to stay calm in important moments. And this helps me.” Sinner succeeded in the task that Alcaraz had failed to do, that of taming Medvedev’s overwhelming form. The Russian returned to playing at a very high level and demonstrated it by battling on equal terms against the top two in the world. Medvedev’s feat against the Spaniard blew up the match between the Spaniard and the Italian, but the theme of world tennis in 2026 will be the same as that of last year: who is number one? Alcaraz or Sinner? Jannik, who had missed the first months of 2025 due to disqualification when he showed up in Rome, set off again in pursuit of Carlos. Miami the first possible theater of the challenge, Sinner prepares as best as possible: “Now I have a couple of days to relax, there isn’t much time between here and Miami, which is an equally important tournament with different conditions, especially if there were to be humidity. But when you have this rhythm, you certainly don’t want to lose it.” After the tournament in Florida Jannik will be involved in tournaments in Madrid, Monte Carlo and Rome before Roland Garros. To get closer to Alcaraz, Sinner will first have to overturn the two defeats suffered in 2025 against Alcaraz in the clay finals of the Foro Italico and Paris. Red clay is probably the surface on which the South Tyrolean needs to improve. Alcaraz will have to defend 1,330 points given the victory in Monte Carlo and the final at the ATP 500 in Barcelona. While both he and Sinner did not participate in the 2025 Masters 1000 in Madrid. The No.2 in the world will be able to enjoy another month and a half of “bonus” to climb the rankings and return to No.1. that is, without even a point to defend, which would allow him to further nibble away at the Spaniard’s ground.
