Cancellation: Jannik Sinner is not playing in Val Gardena

Who SportNews As we learned exclusively on Monday, Jannik Sinner will not be defending his title at his home tournament. The 19-year-old whiz kid hits Tuesday afternoon at the ATP tournament in Sofia against Marton Fucsovics on. After his appearance in Bulgaria, Sinner will recover from the exertions of the past few weeks and fully focus on the Australian Open in January. He will skip the “Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena Südtirol” next week in the tennis hall in Runggaditsch.

After Andreas Seppi's cancellation, the exclusion of spectators and the impending lockdown, Sinner's waiver is a further setback for the organizers of the Challenger in Val Gardena, which is endowed with 44.820 euros and is therefore by far South Tyrol's most important tennis event. We therefore asked tournament director Ambros Hofer and asked him for the following short interview.

“He would have done that for South Tyrol and the South Tyroleans” Tournament director Ambros Hofer © DLife

Mr. Hofer, how much does Jannik Sinner's rejection hurt? Ambros Hofer: “The decision was somehow predictable. Jannik is now at a level where a Challenger tournament cannot lure him with prize money and ATP points. He would have done this for South Tyrol and the South Tyroleans. He enjoyed playing in front of his family, friends and acquaintances last year. That's why he would have liked to come this year too. I'm sure that the spectator ban played a very big role in his considerations. Because of his injury in Vienna and the long-term goal of the Australian Open, I can also understand his decision from a sporting perspective.”

Speaking of banning spectators. How much will the empty ranks affect the tournament balance?

“This measure was of course bad news for us. Ticket revenue makes up around 20 percent of our budget. But apart from that, the tournament has lost a lot of its public appeal, as in recent years tennis fans from all parts of the country and far beyond have come to our valley.”

“We’ll get this thing done!” Canceling the tournament is out of the question?

“No, that would be too short notice. Unless something extraordinary happens, the tournament will take place. The players have all booked their trips and will arrive one after the other from Tuesday. We also had to register early for the tournament and deposit the prize money, so a cancellation would have even greater consequences. There will be excellent tennis again this year. It is the reward for a lot of hard work that our helpers have been doing these weeks. I also see it as an important sign in difficult times like these. That’s why we’re doing this thing!”

Lorenzo Musetti, one of the world's greatest tennis talents, is coming to Val Gardena again this year. Can he succeed Jannik Sinner to the throne? “Winning the tournament is hard work. Thanks to Musetti, our event in Italy has become even more important. He is one of our big draw horses. We also have five top 100 players and a whole host of names in the field who have already performed in Val Gardena in the past. The tournament is excellent even without Seppi and Sinner, that’s for sure.”

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Cancellation: Jannik Sinner is not playing in Val Gardena

Andreas Seppi withdrew his participation at the weekend, and now the next bitter setback for South Tyrol's biggest tennis event follows: Jannik Sinner will not be playing at the Challenger in Runggaditsch. However, the tournament director is unimpressed.

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