Jannik Sinner admits he prefers to put all of his focus on the main-level tournaments and that’s why he has been so reluctant to take part in exhibitions so far in his career.
Since Roger Federer and his agent Tony Godsick launched the Laver Cup project in 2017, pretty much all of the biggest names from the game in the last decade have made an appearance. But the current world No. 1 isn’t one of them.
In recent years, star-studded exhibitions with major names competing have become a regular occurrence. But Sinner has made only one appearance so far – he agreed to play in the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh last October, and he collected the title after winning only three matches in a four-day event.
“I always consider in what shape I am and what my goals are. I like to be ready for tournaments, so sometimes it’s not the right time or schedule. I’ve never played many exhibitions, and there’s always a reason behind it,” the Italian explained.
Sinner called out some of his colleagues last year
After Carlos Alcaraz and several other big names spoke out against the Tour calendar and schedule, claiming that they were basically forced to play regularly. Sinner was asked to share his thoughts on the matter. And when doing so, the four-time Grand Slam champion claimed that it wasn’t true that players didn’t have an option of skipping tournaments.
“The schedule is quite long, obviously. But we players, we can still choose what to play and what not to play. Obviously we have some mandatory events, yes. As a player, you can still choose. It is a very busy schedule this year, there are a lot of tournaments. You don't have to play a tournament,” Sinner said at the time.
In one of his interviews from last year, ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi slammed the calendar complaints by bluntly stating that certain players would have more time to rest if they played less exhibitions.
