Jannik Sinner is through to his first Indian Wells final (Image: Sky Sports)
Jannik Sinner tamed injury fears after reaching the final in Indian Wells for the first time in his career. The No. 2 seed stormed through the opening set of his semi-final match against Alexander Zverev, but was seen grabbing his lower back and wincing early in the second. It didn’t bother Sinner too much, and he still swept Zverev aside, winning 6-2 6-4 to break new ground in the desert.
Sinner will now face either Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final, but there were concerns over his physical state as he booked his spot in the championship match. The Italian spoke to the Sky Sports team courtside after beating Zverev, and Tim Henman quizzed Sinner over the back issue.
“This morning I felt on one serve, what bothered me a bit in the lower back. But look, we kind of solved it. Of course, now it’s good that I have some time until tomorrow,” the four-time Major winner replied.
Sinner has also struggled in the heat during his career. He cramped during a match in 36C at the Australian Open in January and has been open about his need to improve in warmer conditions. Temperatures reached the mid-30s in Indian Wells on Saturday, and Henman also asked how he felt in the heat.
“Physical part, talking about the heat, it was good. I didn’t feel also today a lot of issues, even though today was not that physical, I thought it would be more physical, but it felt like when we both serve very well, it’s tough to get into the rhythm. Very short points,” Sinner replied.
Despite the scare early in set two, Sinner was pleased with his level in the semi-final. “It was a great performance, very, very solid from the back of the court. I tried to go for it, going for shots,” he explained.
Jannik Sinner was seen grabbing his back in the third game of set two (Image: Sky Sports)
“I felt like that was one of the keys, obviously, against Sascha, he has a huge serve, so I tried to mix it up, also trying to bother him also with the visual part of the serve. From my side i served very well, very precise in important moments. A very, very solid performance, now, of course, let’s see what’s coming tomorrow.”
It was third time lucky for Sinner, who lost back-to-back semi-finals here in 2023 and 2024. Last year, he was unable to compete in Indian Wells while serving a three-month suspension as part of a case-resolution agreement with WADA.
After getting to Sunday’s final, the world No. 2 added: “[It’s a] great achievement. First time here in the final means a lot to me. Third time that I play the semis here, so I’m very happy about that, and that’s been a tournament I missed last year, so even more happy. Now let’s see what’s coming, of course a very, very tough test, the next one. But I’m extremely happy, we have improved this week, this tournament.
“That, for me, was the most important part. The performance itself, it was a great performance from my side, Sascha didn’t play very well today, I felt like. Broken a couple of times in the first set, which gave me confidence to continue. I served very well in important moments, so very happy.”
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