Jannik Sinner recently received support from Oliver Tarvet, who recently qualified for Wimbledon, as he called out Andre Agassi for criticizing the Italian for his fitness. Target recently qualified for the major without dropping a single set in the final round of qualifying against Stefanos Sakellaridis.
Sinner became the talking point of the tennis world after his shock early exit at the French Open. Entering the tournament as one of the favorites, the Italian was knocked out in the second round after struggling with physical issues because of the intense heat in Paris. He appeared visibly exhausted, dealing with dizziness and cramping during the match. His opponent, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, capitalized on the situation and picked up momentum, claiming a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Following this upset, in a conversation with TNT Sports, Agassi took a dig at Sinner for his Paris meltdown, questioning the Italian’s fitness and preparation. He said it was unacceptable for a player of Sinner’s caliber to ‘hit the wall’ after just an hour and 45 minutes on court. Pointing out flaws in his fitness and preparation, Agassi said:
“But to go from him playing five-and-a-half hours last year in the finals and then having the heat tap him out in an hour and 45, there’s a difference between being fit and being prepared. I know he can play for five-and-a-half hours, he’s proven it, I know he’s the best player on the planet right now. But I also know there’s no excuse for him to run into a wall at one hour, 45 [minutes],” said Agassi.
Days after those critical comments, Tarvet came to Sinner’s defense and called out Agassi for his comments. Describing the former player’s statements as ‘criminal,’ Tarvet backed the Italian and said to Tennis 365:
“To call him unfit, I feel like it’s criminal. It’s just the fact that he’s playing so many matches, the fact that he’s winning so much just has a massive emotional and physical toll on you. It’s just not easy, you know, doing it in nice conditions, but it’s even more difficult doing it when it’s when it’s hot and the sun’s beaming down and you’re playing best of five sets,” said Tarvet.
He added:
“Maybe some guys might try and make it as physical as possible against him, hoping that you might be able to tire him out, but I feel like tennis wise he is better than everyone else, to be honest. His bull striking ability is incredible. The challenge is getting to four and five sets with him because he is normally cleaning up in three.”
What did Jannik Sinner say about his physical struggles at the French Open?
After suffering an early exit in the second round of the French Open, Jannik Sinner addressed the media in the post-match press conference, where he opened up about his physical struggles during the match. Revealing that he felt low on energy and started feeling dizzy.
“I struggled starting to feel very dizzy. Very low of energy and tried to serve it out but didn’t have a lot of energy. Fourth set I let it go a little bit trying to have a bit more energy in the fifth. Um very important game. the first one couldn’t hold and then it went all a bit downwards but yeah woke up this morning didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the the points very short most in the beginning I was hitting very clean very good and and then I just kind of hit the wall and that’s it,” said Jannik Sinner.
Sinner recently returned the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy to the All England Club as part of a traditional, ceremonial handover ahead of Wimbledon 2026. Following his historic 2024 victory over Carlos Alcaraz, he was given a three-quarters-sized replica etched with past champions’ names to keep permanently.
Read more:
Venus Williams Reveals Why She Had No Advice For Serena Williams After Learning About Her Comeback
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in tennis, college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!
