"No excuse" - Jannik Sinner refuses to blame cramps & hip tension for French Open SF loss to Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner refused to attribute his French Open semifinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz to cramps and his hip issues. This match was the first time that the Italian reached the final four stage at Roland Garros.

Sinner's hopes of securing his second Grand Slam title and fourth title of the 2024 season were shattered by Alcaraz, who defeated him 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in four hours and 20 minutes to reach the final of the French Open. With this win, the Spaniard, 21 became the youngest male player to reach a Grand Slam final on all three surfaces .

During the post-match press conference, Jannik Sinner was asked whether his loss was due to the cramps in his hands or the hip injury that had caused him to pull off the quarterfinals match at the 2024 Madrid Open and also prompted him to withdraw from the Italian Open.

In response, Sinner stated that he was worried about the tension in his hip and the cramps but was happy that he could handle the challenges pretty well unlike how he used to handle them previously.

"Yeah I was [worried] for sure [about] the tension and cramps a little bit. But I handled these situations a little bit better from what I had done in the previous couple of years. These kinds of moments where I couldn't handle them before but if we watch now I handle them a little bit better. It was quite early in the match we didn't play so much so I was not worried about how my body was keeping up quite well and yeah that's it," Jannik Sinner said [1:22].

While talking about his hip, the 22-year-old clarified that while he experienced some discomfort during the match, he did not want to attribute his defeat to his fitness issues. He stated that he was feeling good and moving well on the court that is why he did not want to use his hip as an excuse for the loss.

"The hip was okay and also the match the more goes on it's the right hip that doesn't have the strength of the left hip. It's normal because at this moment sometimes I feel a little bit especially after two and a half hours and until four hours, but this is no excuse. I was moving good, I was feeling quite good on the court so I'm not anymore worried about the hip. I'm just uh disappointed about how it went today and just have to accept it," he added [5:50].

Jannik Sinner on his French Open SF loss: "Disappointed how it ended but it's part of my growing"

Jannik Sinner

At the aforementioned press conference, Jannik Sinner stated that his semifinal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 French Open was "tough." Despite the disappointment of the loss, Sinner expressed that he will use the experience from this year's tournament to improve his game in the future.

"I think it was a great match for sure. The sets he [Carlos Alcaraz] won he played better. The important points now I think that was the key. Obviously disappointed how it ended but it's part of my growing and then and the process of thinking back," Jannik Sinner said [0:11].

Jannik Sinner also stated that he will look to elevate his game for future appearances at the French Open . He also stated that he has another opportunity to win in Paris at the 2024 Olympics.

"I'll just keep looking forward to improve. I'm trying to do my best I can and then we see what I can do in the future here in this tournament. If we watch the positive side, I have improved from last year. There's another chance to play here for the Olympics and then we'll see how it goes," he added [0:47].

Jannik Sinner is set to start his grass-court season at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle.