Tennis analyst Rennae Stubbs said that when Jannik Sinner rejected an invitation to the Sanremo Music Festival, he showed that he preferred tennis over Matteo Berrettini and Emma Raducanu.
Former world No. 9 Andrea Petkovic likewise acknowledged Sinner’s choice, saying it was appropriate given that he had won the Rotterdam Open.
Sinner received an invitation to the Sanremo Music Festival, the most well-known Italian song competition and awards event, following his victory at the 2024 Australian Open last month, marking his first Grand Slam victory.
The 22-year-old Italian chose to concentrate on getting ready for the Rotterdam Open, which was held from February 12–18, instead of going to the event, which was scheduled for February 6–10.
In an interview with Stubbs Podcast, Petkovic reiterated Sinner’s decision to go to the event and claimed she would have gone as well.
Petkovic expressed her thoughts about Sinner and said: “It’s a big honor to be invited to the Sanremo Music Festival. As anybody, not just as an artist. And Jannik didn’t take the invitation. He refused to come because he had to train to go to Rotterdam and it was a controversy because everyone was like, ‘Oh, he’s not honoring the invitation. And I would have gone; I would’ve been in Sanremo, so maybe that’s why I never won majors. At the same time, I respect it, and then seeing him win Rotterdam was like, Yeah, he did the right thing.”
Berrettini and Raducanu were mentioned by Stubbs as players who haven’t always put tennis before off-court choices. She added: “That’s the one thing that I would have to say against Matteo Berrettini for example. Look, we call a spade a spade on this podcast and I love Matteo; he’s a great guy. And I’m fine with that because Jannik’s got his Gucci stuff and Matteo has his Boss stuff, but that’s maybe where you have to fault him (Berrettini) a little bit. I know a lot of people have given Emma Raducanu s**t for that. That’s where it’s important to have people around you that are advising you to say, What is your priority?”
Jannik Sinner in 2024
WWWWWWWLWW Ranked no.3 (career-high), Sinner played his last match on the 18th of February when he defeated world no.9 Alex De Minaur 7-5 6-4 in the final in Rotterdam to win his 13th career title.
At the moment, during this season Sinner has managed to achieve a composed 12-0 match record. The Italian clinched 2 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open and Rotterdam.
Sinner will compete next in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open). He will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 4th of March.
Matteo Berrettini in 2024
Currently ranked no.125, the Italian played his last match on the 31st of August 2023 when he had to retire when playing against world no.90 Arthur Rinderknech in the 2nd round and the scoreline was 6-4 5-3 .
Until now, during this year the Italian achieved a compiled 14-12 match record.
He is also scheduled to play in Miami (Miami Open) on the 18th of March and Miami (Miami Open) on the 20th of March.
Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini faced off only 1 time. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Sinner. When they played, Jannik Sinner won 6-4 6-3 in the 2nd round in Toronto (National Bank Open) in August 2023.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Emma Raducanu in 2024
LWWLLWWLWW Currently ranked no.252, Emma played her last match on the 12th of February when she surrendered to world no.35 Anhelina Kalinina 6-0 7-6(6) in the 1st round in Doha (draw).
At the moment, during this season Raducanu has a 3-4 record.
