"Jannik Sinner doesn't play Olympics, Italy wins gold & bronze, pretty good" - Andy Roddick praises Musetti, Paolini & Errani for Paris 2024 heroics
Andy Roddick has praised the Italian tennis team for winning gold and bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, despite the absence of their star player, Jannik Sinner. The World No. 1 had to withdraw from the event due to tonsillitis.
While Italy's chances of winning medals at the Paris Olympics were certainly impacted by Sinner not competing, the team's strength still shone through. Jasmine Paolini, Sara Errani, and Lorenzo Musetti led their country to medal glory.
Paolini and Errani teamed up for doubles and triumphed over New Zealand's Erin Routliffe and Lulu Sun, France's Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry, Great Britain's Katie Boulter and Heather Watson, the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova, and finally, Russia's (AITA) Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider in the final to win the gold medal.
Meanwhile, Musetti defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils, Argentina's Mariano Navone, the USA's Taylor Fritz, and Germany's Alexander Zverev before losing to eventual gold medalist Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. However, the Italian made a strong comeback in the bronze medal match, defeating Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Many were impressed by Italy's performance, including Andy Roddick. The former US Open champion lauded the medal winners on the latest episode of his 'Served with Andy Roddick' podcast for carrying the team forward without Jannik Sinner.
"If I were to tell you in January, [Jannik] Sinner doesn't play the Olympics, Italy wins a gold and a bronze, pretty good," Roddick said (at 4:17)
"[Lorenzo] Musetti coming in and winning the bronze for Italy. Post Roland-Garros, his run has really been something special with winning. Now winning bronze, losing to Novak Djokovic in the semis," he continued.
The American continued:
"She [Sara Errani] made the finals of Roland-Garros in singles back in the day and just her tennis IQ is through the roof and if you watch her play doubles, she puts the ball in a position where you cannot attack. She is so smart with the way she plays, tennis IQ through the roof."
"And [Jasmine] Paolini obviously has been one of the best players in the planet for the last couple of months. It was fun to see them get gold," he added.
Jannik Sinner: "It broke my heart not to be able to go to Paris Olympics 2024"
In a recent interview with journalist Giovanni Pelazzo, Jannik Sinner shared that he didn’t watch much tennis during the 2024 Paris Olympics, preferring to follow other sports instead. He admitted that it "broke his heart" not to be able to represent Italy in the Games.
"I saw some of the Olympics, although I didn't watch much tennis. It broke my heart not to be able to go to Paris, the Games were one of my main goals of the season," he said.
However, the reigning Australian Open champion also found solace in knowing that his countryman Lorenzo Musetti won bronze in men's singles:
"In the end though, looking at everything from a broader perspective, Musetti won a bronze, so an Italian is happy and I am happy for," the World No. 1 said.
Jannik Sinner's next stop is the Canadian Open (August 6-12), where he is the defending champion. He will begin his campaign in the second round against either Pedro Martinez or a qualifier, thanks to a first-round bye.