The Madrid Open, on the men’s side in particular, was a mess.
And despite Andrey Rublev reigning triumphant, beating Felix Auger Aliassime in the final, the manner in which the Canadian had even made his way to that stage was wrought with controversy.
After all, despite recording a fine win over Casper Ruud, his next opponent, Jannik Sinner, would pull out, before his semi-final clash with Jiri Lehecka was cut short due to another injury.
It was a huge shame, and one which saw the spectacle of the competition diminished as Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz also suffered.
Well, Andy Roddick has now sought to analyse what went wrong in Madrid.
Andy Roddick on Jannik Sinner’s injury concerns
Speaking on the Served by Andy Roddick podcast, the former world number one was rather cutthroat in his analysis of the ATP tour and its scheduling issues.
And one of the main stars to suffer from that has been Sinner, who allegedly injured his hip, which will keep him out of Rome and potentially Roland Garros, trying to fit in a gym session mid-way through the Madrid Masters.
Roddick was less than pleased, and scrutinised what led to that sad development. He claimed: ‘Jannik Sinner is out of Rome. And the hip situation seems a little scarier than it once was what they thought internally with his team, and they haven’t named the specific injury.
‘We have a tendency in tennis just to say ‘Oh it’s the hip… bone or the calf… bone.
‘It’s bad. MRI shows something that they didn’t like, immediately pulled out of Rome which I don’t have to tell you for an Italian player is a huge huge deal, especially on the heels of what he has created in the last six months, being the best player on earth.
‘He’s a household name worldwide, he’s a bonified Beckham-level celebrity in Italy now, so for him to pull out of there… concerning.’
Jannik Sinner was expected to threaten at Roland Garros
It is such a shame that, whilst in the form of his life, Sinner’s career has been put on standstill.
Especially right before two of the biggest tournaments of the year for him: his home Masters 1000 event in Rome, and a Grand Slam where half of the elite competitors seem injured.
He was expected to threaten for another major title, and now he has been reduced to barely fit enough to feature.
Fortunately, at just 22 years old, he will have so many more chances to go deep in this competition.
But it would take something special to come into this tournament in the form he has enjoyed in 2024. Such disappointing timing.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
