Jannik Sinner’s rivals have been warned “he wants to eat everyone alive” with Justine Henin stating his form could be good news or bad news for the rest of the ATP Tour.
The naysayers who thought the world No 1 would struggle with match fitness following his three-month ban have been proved wrong as Sinner has been in imperious form at the Italian Open.
After winning the Australian Open final against Alexander Zverev on January 26, the three-time Grand Slam winner was sidelined from February 9 until May 4 as he was suspended following his two positive tests for the banned substance Clostebol.
The 23-year-old missed several big events- including the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open – giving the rest of the Tour hope he would be sluggish upon his return.
But Sinner returned with a bang as he defeated Mariano Navone, Jesper de Jong, Francisco Cerúndolo and Casper Ruud in straight sets to reach the semi-finals in Rome.
He produced one of his most dominant displays against Ruud – fresh from winning the Madrid Open – as he demolished the sixth seed 6-0, 6-1 before dropping his first set in the last four against Tommy Paul.
The American won the opening set 6-1, but Sinner bounced back to win 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 to reach his eight consecutive final. He is now unbeaten in his last 26 matches and former world No 1 Henin fears for the Italian’s rivals.
“He’s clearly worked incredibly hard physically in recent weeks. He’s coming in so fresh,” the seven-time Grand Slam winner told TNT Sport.
“What’s incredible is finding his bearings so quickly and in this way. He’s picking up on everything. He’s picked up on all the signals, everything he could improve on, with great intelligence, since his first match in Rome.
“The message he’s sending is that he wants to eat everyone alive. It’s going to do everyone good… or it’s going to scare everyone.”
Sinner will face Alcaraz in the final and their Spaniard leads their head-to-head rivalry 6-4, having won their last three meetings, including the 2024 China Open final last October.
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It’s the final everyone wants to see and Sinner feels it will be a good test for him.
“We know each other quite well now. It’s always special to share the court with him. I feel like we both know how to play against each other a little bit, so we have to be prepared tactically. Of course, small things are going to be changed. This, yes,” he said.
“But it’s just a great test for me to see where I am. It’s great for me to play against Carlos before the two Grand Slams. That for me is good because I see where I have to improve, what I have to do better.
“Hopefully it’s going to be a good match. I feel like this is the most important part. Yeah, but in any case what’s coming out Sunday, a great tournament from my side, making such a run here, it feels good.”
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