After his triumph in Beijing, Jannik returns to the court to defend his title and opens the race for the second round against Altmaier. “The conditions here are different, warmer and more humid. We’ll see how I react.”

Sinner is back in Shanghai. After his triumph in Beijing and some physical problems in the semifinals against de Minaur, Jannik will open his defense of the Masters 1000 title he won a year ago against Altmaier. “It’s great to be back here. It’s a very special tournament,” said Jannik, fresh from his success in Beijing in the final against Tien and in the draw from the second round. “The conditions are definitely different from Beijing (where he highlighted the slowness of the courts, ed.), so I only have one training session to prepare, but we’ll see. It will be a very, very difficult and tough challenge. You never know what will happen, we’ll see.” Perhaps his memories go back to his previous encounters with Altmaier: they are 1-1 and the German triumphed in five sets in their last meeting at Roland Garros in 2023.

After his defeat to Alcaraz in the US Open final, Sinner announced that he would work to change something. This was evident in a few approaches to the net in Beijing, in hints of serve and volley, and more. “I’m not the only one changing,” he pointed out at the pre-tournament press conference in Shanghai. “If you ask any player, they are all changing something and trying to improve. It’s not about revolution, but just tweaking a couple of things, trying to improve as players, like everyone else does. Some shots have worked slightly better than in previous months, others we can still improve. But that’s also normal, the more I play, the more I have the chance to try as many things as possible. We’ll see, but we’re quite happy with the work we’re doing.“ And the organizers showed him a reproduction of a Xian warrior with his features: ”He looks much stronger,” Jannik smiled.

The calendar—  On Tuesday, Alcaraz said before withdrawing from Shanghai that “something needs to be done about the calendar,” echoing the opinions of Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff. Sinner said he did not “want to criticize anything.” “Everyone has a different opinion… I would say that we still have a choice as players,” he added. “The calendar is what it is.”
Condition— He has fully recovered from the physical discomfort he suffered in the Beijing semifinal against De Minaur: “I feel good, I said before the final in Beijing that I was ready. Here the situation is different, everything is more humid, hotter, I don’t know how I’ll feel on the court, but at least I’ll have a day off. Tomorrow I’ll have more information about my body and my mind, and then I’ll start preparing for my match. We’ll see how it goes.“
The specialty— Jannik talked about the break points he saved during the Beijing tournament, sometimes coming back from 0-40. ”I don’t know if it’s a natural thing. I try to focus on the best option at any given moment. Sometimes it works very well, and other times you make mistakes. It’s normal, and you have to accept it. In general, I always try to push myself, to take myself to the limit. I try to put myself in a position where I can say that I’m the one making the right decisions on the court. You can make mistakes, and that’s normal. That’s how I dig deep in the moments of pressure in every match.”

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