Italian fans expected a more prestigious result from Jannik Sinner at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The World number 1 was considered by bookmakers as the main favorite to lift the trophy on Sunday, but his run ended already in the quarterfinals against a really inspired Daniil Medvedev.
The Italian was debilitated by a virus in the hours before the match, which prevented him from expressing his best tennis for most of the match. The Russian played perhaps his best career match on grass, making very little mistake and adopting a more aggressive tennis than usual.
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2024
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2024© Francois Nel / Staff – Getty Images Sport
Medvedev had lost his last five matches against Sinner, including the 2024 Australian Open final, which is why he wanted a rematch at Church Road. Despite his untimely elimination at the Wimbledon Championships, Jannik is certain to remain number one in the world regardless of which player will win the tournament on Sunday.
The Australian Open champion was scheduled to participate in the ATP in Bastad next week, but he announced his forfeit in the past hours to rest and train ahead of the Paris Olympics. Jannik will be one of the main favorites on red clay in Paris, where he will try to win the gold medal in both singles and doubles (along with his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti).
Sinner is playing a fantastic season, in which he has already won 4 titles and became the world’s number 1 at less than 23 years. The Italian won the Australian Open at the beginning of the year recovering two sets to Daniil Medvedev in the final, an exceptional feat that made him famous throughout his country.
Jannik Sinner takes a break
Meanwhile, the World number 1 decided to take a short break from tennis and spend a few days in Costa Smeralda with his girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya. The two tennis players were spotted together at Olda airport and are ready to enjoy some well-deserved rest. After this short vacation, Sinner will return to Monte Carlo and will start training on red clay for the Paris Olympics.
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2024
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2024© Francois Nel / Staff – Getty Images Sport
Jannik was not at his best against Medvedev in the quarterfinals, as he admitted during the press conference. “I was not feeling great. I didn’t vomit. But took some time because I was dizzy quite a lot. Yeah, actually off court I had a little bit the toughest time maybe. I retired a lot two years ago. I don’t want to retire if it’s only a little bit of illness or sick or whatever” – he stated.
“I was still in shape to play somehow. The fifth set I felt a little bit better again. The energy level was a bit up. Today the energy level was not consistent. It was up and down. Like this, it’s also not easy to handle the situations on the court. It happens. I was never thinking about retiring. You don’t want to retire in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam” – the Italian added.
Sinner and Kalinskaya have fun
The love story with Sinner also helped young Kalinskaya. In an exclusive interview with La Stampa, Patricia Tarabini, former top 30 in singles and coach of Kalinskaya, spoke about Anna. A relationship, the one with Anna, born right on the meadows of Wimbledon: “Anna sailed around the 16th position in the standings. I was still after training Conchita Martinez. I didn’t want to travel anymore, but I liked Anna for two reasons. As a person she is a girl with whom you can talk about many things, not only tennis, but life, family, everything. And why I didn’t explain why playing so well was no longer high on the WTA ranking.”
Anna Kalinskaya
Anna Kalinskaya © Getty Images Sport – Inaki Esnaola
Tarabini also reflected on Sinner: “Jannik is an exceptional person. A very nice guy. As a player, I don’t need to know how good he is. And together with Anna I see them very happy, very serene. They are very well, because they look alike. Jannik is a very reserved guy and even Anna doesn’t like to be seen too much. They are two very simple guys.”
Sinner and Kalinskaya want to enjoy their love story while protecting their privacy, although it is not easy to manage media attention. Recently, Sinner got a shot from his ex-girlfriend Maria Braccini on Instagram. The model was left by Jannik just to start the story with Anna.
The Italian has always been careful to keep his tennis career separate from his private life. For this reason, he has never talked much about his love stories and does not like the obsessive attention of the media in this regard. Certainly their union seems to be good for the tennis of both.