Sinner in no hurry to replace departed team members

Jannik Sinner said on Saturday that he won’t stress over replacing two more team members he sacked on the eve of Wimbledon.

The world No. 1 parted ways with trainer Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio, the former Novak Djokovic staffers whom he hired last September to replace Umberto Ferrara and Giacomo Naldi.

The original pair were involved in the Clostebol scandal which cost Sinner a three-month ban early in this season even as anti-doping bosses accepted that the player’s contamination as totally accidental.

Sinner won his second Australian Open in January as well as reaching the Roland Garros final against Carlos Alcaraz this month with Panichi and Badio on board.

The Italian said that it was merely time to restructure parts of his team, and avoided giving any detail at all concerning the odd situation.

“Nothing happened, we did some great work for four months,” the Wimbledon top seed said

“Things happen. Maybe the timing was not the best but it won’t have much influence on this Grand Slam.

“I feel good physically and mentally.”

He added: “Now is not the right time to think of substitutes, I have other things to worry about here. There are many (personnel) substitutes. 

“I need close people who get along with the team, someone I can trust and believe in. Right now I’m just hoping to play well here. I’m well-prepared.

“It’s not affecting me, I feel ready to compete. I feel free. I feel that me and my team, we are ready to do the best we can.”