World No.1 Jannik Sinner will return to action on the ATP Tour as he enters the 2024 Canadian Open as the top seed. Sinner is the defending champion at the Masters 1000 tournament, having won the title last year after beating Alex de Minaur.
The 22-year-old Italian had been out of action for weeks, as he withdrew from the Olympics at the last moment, citing illness. The newly crowned World No.1 was last seen on the court at Wimbledon, where he lost against Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals. However, at the Canadian Open, he received a bye in the first round, owing to his top seeding.
Let’s go through the potential path that Sinner might have to go through to reach the final and defend his title in Canada.
The Spaniard’s success has mostly come on clay in 2024, having reached the final of the Estoril Open, the semifinals of the Hamburg European Open, and the quarterfinals of the Austrian Open. However, Martinez’s performance on hard courts has not been encouraging, as he has failed to make any sort of deep runs on events that have taken place on the surface so far this year.
Sinner and Martinez have faced off against each other only once in their careers, with the Italian winning the encounter at the 2022 Italian Open.
