Tennis LIVE: Alcaraz fallout twist as Indian Wells star ups security

“I’m going to go with Sinner to win Indian Wells just because of the fact that he hasn’t won a title this year is something to prove, even though Carlos is the hottest player on the tour.

“I think the conditions are perfect for him. You know, the ball gets up high, it kicks, it flies through the desert air goes through the air. Then on the court, the ball on the surface is quite slow, so he’s going to have enough time.

“The problem he has is that Carlos Alcaraz prefers these courts more so than he does. And that’s the final everybody’s expecting. Sinner vs Alcaraz, that’s what we want to see.

“Carlos hasn’t lost a match this year. He’s been absolutely brilliant. And Sinner wants to say, OK, don’t forget about me. It’s a little bit of a blip right now. I mean, these two guys have just think Sinner’s gonna announce himself.

“I think he’s gonna be back in the final here. I think we’re gonna get the repeat of Alcaraz vs Sinner, whatever part it is now because they’ve played so many times. It’s gonna happen again in Indian Wells, even though there are other players to look out for, I’m backing Sinner to win.”

"Right now, it's more about bringing my instincts back out, getting back in touch with myself.

"I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn't necessarily fit.

"So I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that's something that has been coached out of me a little bit.

"I don't necessarily want to have one coach in the role because anyone I bring in is straight away going to be scrutinised - even if it's a trial.

"I might feel the pressure to stick with them, even if it's not necessarily the right decision.

"I would love to have a coach that works well, but I don't think it's necessarily going to be easy to find one person and they are going to check every box.

"I definitely have my mind open to it. It's just that I would rather someone not come in and tell me 'let's do this', and I disagree with it but have to listen to them.

"So far Alexis [Canter] has been really good, but I am definitely going to tap into a few people here and there."

"At this point, truthfully, I’m just very grateful to be back on the court, to be back on the tour.

“I’m feeling like I have improved a lot as a player over the last eight months, but I do recognise that I have been away from the game, and it is a bit of a step up in level to just come straight back to it after that amount of time out of the game.

“So let’s see what happens. I’m sort of not overthinking things too much.

“My main priority is looking after my body, making sure that when I’m able to hit the match court that I’m fully prepared for what’s to come, and I always believe in my tennis, so let’s see how far I can go.”

"I don't follow him because I need a little time, to separate myself from him. Besides if I look at Instagram, he pops up everywhere. In the end, I haven't achieved anything. You follow tennis accounts and tournament accounts, and it's the same.

"I didn't do it out of spite. I want to see him and give him a hug. To normalise everything that's happened, I think we still need to have a conversation. I'd like that."

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