(Reuters) -World number one Jannik Sinner said he had taken the right decision by opting for a long break following his Wimbledon triumph, and the recharged Italian is ready to fire at the Cincinnati Open where he will defend his title.
The 23-year-old lost a marathon French Open final to rival Carlos Alcaraz in June before gaining revenge over the Spaniard at the All England Club last month to secure his fourth Grand Slam title overall and second of a difficult season in which he served a short ban for an inadvertent doping offence.
Sinner opted to prioritise his health following that victory and will return after a near month-long absence from the circuit when he takes to the court over the weekend in Cincinnati after getting a first-round bye.
“The body and mind need to recover and need to understand what happened,” Sinner told reporters in Ohio on Wednesday as he explained his scheduling.
“I’m very happy I took some time off, seeing my family and friends and very important people I have around. In the past, I made some mistakes sometimes, starting too early at times.
“I had conversations with the whole team, trying to understand what’s best. When you win big titles, they’re very special moments and then you have to leave them.”
Sinner sported a protective sleeve on his right elbow when he practised with Christopher Eubanks on Wednesday, sparking concerns that he was still feeling the effects of an injury sustained during his title run at Wimbledon.
The Italian said, however, that he was only using it as it gave him more stability.
“The elbow is good. Today was the first time that I put the sleeve on because I liked the feeling of the sleeve,” he said.
“The impact with the ball is slightly more stable and I liked it at Wimbledon. I had to see how it is when it’s very hot and humid because it’s a bit different.
“It’s going to be something I take into consideration, but I really love the feeling of pure striking.”
The Cincinnati tournament is a tune-up event for the U.S. Open that runs from August 23 to September 7.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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