In January, Jannik Sinner became the first Italian player to win the Australian Open, earning him his maiden Grand Slam victory
In an interview, Jannik Sinner discussed how, having gambled throughout his early tennis career, he is now benefiting from it. At the Australian Open last month, the 22-year-old lived up to his hype when he upset Daniil Medvedev in the final to win his first Grand Slam title. He started the match down two sets.
Subsequent to defeating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, he exacted revenge for his Wimbledon loss to the Serbian at the same stage the previous year. Furthermore, he became the first Italian player in tournament history with his victory down under, solidifying his position at No. 4 in the rankings.
However, Sinner’s rise to the top of the sport has not been like any other. He never participated in a single Slam at the junior level, in contrast to most of his professional peers, choosing instead to enter the professional tour in 2017 at the age of just 16.
Additionally, he clarified in an interview with Marca that he choose to compete in Challenger events rather than significant junior competitions in order to put himself to the test against stronger opponents. “I have always enjoyed playing against opponents who are more skilled than me because it allows me to gain new knowledge,” he remarked.
“When I was fifteen and sixteen years old, I participated in a few junior competitions. I was already thinking ahead at that age. For me at the time, finishing in the top ten of the junior rankings wasn’t all that crucial. I also skipped the Grand Slams because of this.
Additionally, Sinner asserts that the ruse has improved his mental preparation for challenging situations on the tennis court. Sinner will make his comeback this week at the Rotterdam Open. I recognised that the only way to improve as a player was to compete in future events.
Sinner will now concentrate on preparing for the French Open, which begins on May 20 in Paris. When he was still a youngster in 2020, he made his grand entrance at Roland Garros and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Rafael Nadal.
However, he hasn’t gone back to that point since. The previous Italian player to win a Grand Slam was Adriano Panatta, who triumphed in Paris in 1976, before Sinner’s victory in Melbourne.
On Tuesday, Sinner’s first-round encounter in Holland takes place against the home player Botic van de Zandschulp. He is the tournament’s top seed, placing him above players like Holger Rune and Andrey Rublev.