QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 18, 2026

Jannik Sinner

Press Conference

J. SINNER/A. Popyrin

6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Jannik, how did you feel out there on the court today?

JANNIK SINNER: Yes, obviously very happy. He's a very dangerous opponent, serving very well. I struggled a bit in the second set, making some mistakes, but it can happen. Obviously very happy to be in the next round.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Questions, please.

Q. Amazing match today, amazing level. For me the best part about your game and how you approach your career is that you really learn very well from tough losses. For example, after Roland Garros, for other players they might take months, sometimes years, sometimes their careers get derailed by such tough losses. But then two weeks later you play incredible in Wimbledon, you win title. At the end of the year you win the Masters Cup. So I want to ask you, another tough loss of course at the Australian Open. How do you approach such losses, and how do you learn from it? Do you go back and watch the game, see where you made a mistake, physically, mentally, what part of your game?

JANNIK SINNER: Look, my approach to tennis is, we live also a normal life. I believe we live in situations and moments and emotions. This is the same with tennis. We have great moments. We have tough moments. We have sad moments and happy moments. It's just an episode, right? When I have tough losses, for me it's just a moment. I believe that, you know, the hard work we are doing, of course, always the best thing is to win, but you cannot always win. I believe that I have a great, great team behind me. I have family, which is much more important than anything else. I do put tennis in the first place, no matter what. That's what I choose, and that's what I will always choose, until I'm done playing. Hopefully I can play for many more years. But it doesn't mean that we don't live the emotions.

After tough losses I try to go through and try to understand what I can do better. At the end of the day, when I finish my career I just don't want to have regrets that I could have done something more. If my potential is winning, you know, this, but I have just one, it's okay. If I win more, it's okay. I just want to maximize my potential and to see how far I can go.

Q. How do you see the next match going against Jakub? Is there anything from today where it's like, Okay, I need to do this better tomorrow or something?

JANNIK SINNER: Every day's different, so let's see what's coming. Of course I want to improve. I made couple of mistakes in the second set, but it's also normal, you know, you cannot always play the best way.

I'm looking forward to it. It's an opponent and a player we never actually practiced together, so it's also something completely new for me. He's a very, very talented player. His physicality, hitting strong from both sides. It's going to be a very, very tough match. But let's see what's coming.

Q. We saw you changing your return positions on the second set. We saw you mixing your tennis with some serve and volley. We saw you using the dropshot more and more. To you, how does a matchup like this build your momentum for the upcoming matches in this tournament?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, I feel like of course we try to understand what's working well on this surface here. I tried to mix up a little bit the return game.

The baseline, I was not feeling great today. That's why at times I put in the dropshot, trying to get out of the rally. Yeah, I mean, it's for sure a part where I'm trying to improve, or I'm aiming to improve. I believe we are on the right track. Of course there is still a lot of room to do better, but, yeah, it was a very positive day today, and now let's see what's coming tomorrow.

Q. I've seen the footage on social media of yourself, Carlos, Andrey, and Daniil going on the fishing trip, taking in a bit of the local culture here in Doha. I wanted to know how much you enjoyed the trip, did it get competitive, and most importantly, who caught the biggest fish?

JANNIK SINNER: (Laughing). I don't remember. It was very quick, it was one and a half hours, but we had a lot of fun. Doing something different, but also, you know, getting to know each other a little bit better. We talk about different stuff. It was nice, you know, to share this moment with all the other players. We had a great atmosphere.

This helps also before tournaments, and also to do something different to relax. It was a nice experience.

It was the first time that I went fishing, you know, so it was something new also for me.

Q. So you really can't remember who did catch the biggest fish then? You're not going to give me that little exclusive?

JANNIK SINNER: No, no, you ask other players that.