Jannik Sinner has lost two matches in 2026 so far. He was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the five-set thriller in the Australian Open semifinals. Most recently, the World No. 2 was defeated in three sets against Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals.
This has led many to question if Sinner has lost his overwhelming dominance that we got used to seeing in the previous two years.
Former US Open champion Andy Roddick played down the chatter on his recent episode of the “Served” podcast. He took the example of Pete Sampras and added that losing in the quarterfinals shouldn’t be considered massive.
“Pete would lose in tournaments sometimes, like in the round of 16, right?” Roddick said. “We’re talking about the best player before this, you know, the Big Three. It’s shocking when you see Sinner lose a match, right? The precedent that’s been set is kind of crazy, he loses to a good player and we’re like, what is going on with Jannik? He’s lost to two really good players this year.”
Roddick also dwelled on the massive expectations the Italian has created for himself, given his past success
At some point in sports, the not-fun part of it is that you become a victim of your own shadow, and Sinner has created a massive shadow through his success,” Roddick added.
Jannik Sinner Remains Calm Despite Shocking QF Defeat in Doha
Jannik Sinner is not thinking too much about his loss against Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. Mensik took the first 7-6 in the tie-break. Sinner returned to take the second set 6-2. But in the third set, Sinner’s serve was broken and he could never return as Mensik took the set 6-3 and the match.
After the game, Sinner admits his shortcomings but says it could happen to anyone.
“Every player faces ups and downs. I’ve had an amazing two years and now I have a little ‘down’, but it’s not something that worries me,” Sinner said. “I know I can play better tennis, but Jakub played and served very well. We all have ups and downs in our jobs, I’m not worried.”
The Italian also analyzed where exactly he went wrong in his match against Mensik that proved to be decisive in the end.
“In the first set he served very well, with almost 90% of his first serves coming in. It was difficult to respond and in the third I suffered a hard breakI made a couple of too many mistakes, but that can happen: I’m a little sorry for how I handled some moments, but it can happen. I made maybe 2/3 wrong choices, I wasn’t very clear but it can happen.I started badly in the third set, which was perhaps the key moment: I made a few mistakes there. I took that break and then didn’t serve very well. Mensik played a great tie-break; perhaps I could have played the point at 4-3 better, but it’s easy to talk about it after the match. I’m calm right now, I know what I have to do to get back,” Sinner added.\
With the Indian Wells Masters tournament approaching, Sinner will aim to give his best in California.
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