Jannik Sinner won his first Grand Slam this year and no one believes it will be his last.
The 22-year-old from South Tyrol stunned the world not only with his powerful shots, but also with the mental strength and unwavering confidence that backed them up.
"Being calm, for me as a player, is very important because you can see things a bit better and a bit quicker," he told the Financial Times.
Excerpts from the Interview:
He orders a macchiato, but without the caffeine. He is a resident of Monaco, traditionally a country of playboys, but he is clearly not like them. He is a fan of Formula 1 racing, but he has no garage in Monaco and keeps only one car: an Audi. He has a long-time girlfriend, model and influencer Maria Braccini, but keeps his personal life firmly out of the limelight.
He won the Rotterdam Open after winning the Australian Open. Both wins have brought his career earnings to nearly $20 million, not counting his outside sponsorship deals — Nike recently gave him a 10-year, $158 million contract.
With the Big Four phasing out (Novak Djokovic, whom Sinner beat in the semi-finals in Australia, is still world number one, but Roger Federer has withdrawn and Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have both said they are likely to leave this year), tennis has been looking for new figures. Many believe that Sinner will be one of the future leaders of tennis.
Antoni Ciufo Sinner was born in Innichen in South Tyrol, five miles from the Austrian border. His father was a chef, his mother a waitress and he has an older brother, Mark.
"What really matters is trying to work hard, waking up and going to work and doing it with a smile. My parents always came home smiling. So that's what they gave me: a really positive mindset with a really good work ethic.”
Sinner is already a superstar in Italy and his fame is spreading fast. But he wears it easily. "If I go to the store and people ask for pictures, I take them," he says. "It's nice, especially when someone new comes up to me, because I was also young and sometimes too shy to ask for a photo."
