Jannik Sinner has attempted to play down the hype surrounding his return to tennis, but Andy Roddick and Jim Courier have dismissed his pre-tournament comments and backed the world No 1 to return to form with a bang.<\/p>\n
Sinner<\/a> is returning to action after a three-month suspension after he failed drug tests in March 2024 and the Italian has claimed he cannot be expected to return to top form after a long break from the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to say I have low expectations for this tournament. I\u2019ve been sitting out for so long and I don\u2019t have any feedback on how I\u2019m going to play,\u201d said Sinner, in a press conference that started when he was bizarrely applauded into the room by euphoric members of the Italian media.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal will be Paris. I\u2019m not here to beat anyone but to try to get through the first round and then we\u2019ll see what can happen. It\u2019s difficult for me to start a new tournament and get back to the rhythm.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re very calm, we\u2019re physically and mentally well, we\u2019re rested, which will pay off at the end of the season too.\u201d<\/p>\n The 11 men who earned most ATP Ranking points during Sinner\u2019s ban. Zverev down in 10th<\/a><\/p>\n Why Jannik Sinner\u2019s return to tennis is proving to be uncomfortable to watch<\/a><\/p>\n Sinner may be keen to suggest he is not the favourite to win the title in front of his adoring fans in Rome, but Roddick has told the Tennis Channel that he has to be viewed as the man to beat in every tournament he enters.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is doing a great job of being a rational thinker, but he is No 1 in the world,\u201d said Roddick.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand there are going to be lower expectations, but he is still the No 1 player in the world and he has been the dominant force in tennis for the last 18 months.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is only so low that the expectations can go around Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are more questions surrounding him and there are going to be moments in this tournament when it\u2019s not the perfect version of Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if he\u2019s going to win the tournament, but I like him to win two or three matches.\u201d<\/p>\n Courier is also convinced Sinner will bounce back in style, as he suggested the early round in Rome may be his biggest concern.<\/p>\n \ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe guy hasn\u2019t lost a match since October and the only loss he\u2019s taken recently was from WADA,\u201d said Courier, referring to his drug test case with the World Anti-Doping Agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no reason to think that his level is not going to be where it needs to be, but he will be vulnerable in the first couple of matches.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is managing expectations. You should not expect pure honesty from players in press conferences. They are protecting themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he comes out and says I expect to win this tournament, people are going to start taking shots at him saying he is too arrogant.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the worst draw he could possibly get coming back because he is going to be tested from the third round on.\u201d<\/p>\n Courier went on to suggest a potential match against Argentina\u2019s Francisco Cerundolo could test Sinner if they meet in the fourth round in Rome.<\/p>\n \u201cThe danger match is Cerundolo,\u201d he added. \u201cHe is in form, he\u2019s got confidence, he\u2019s got a nasty game on all surfaces bar grass. That\u2019s the game where you really need to be sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Dan Evans lambasts Jannik Sinner\u2019s Rome return: \u2018Pretty convenient\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Jannik Sinner\u2019s attempts to downplay expectations dismissed by two Grand Slam champions<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jannik Sinner has attempted to play down the hype surrounding his return to tennis, but Andy Roddick and Jim Courier have dismissed his pre-tournament comments and backed the world No 1 to return to form with a bang. Sinner is returning to action after a three-month suspension after he failed drug tests in March 2024 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}More Tennis News<\/h3>\n