Jannik Sinner: “I have always been calm, the mind is the only thing that can be controlled” | Tennis | Kinds of sports

Two weeks after winning the Australian Open and winning the first major of a career that looks amazing, Jannik Sinner (San Candido, Italy; 22 years old) smiles on the other side of the screen and responds to a small sample of international media, including EL PAIS. His messy hairstyle and reddish hair give him a casual look that has nothing in common with the look of an athlete on the ice who seems to feel nothing or suffer, who…

Two weeks after winning the Australian Open and winning the first major of a career that looks amazing, Jannik Sinner (San Candido, Italy; 22 years old) smiles on the other side of the screen and responds to a small sample of international media, including EL PAIS. His messy coiffure and reddish hair give him a casual air that has nothing in common with the look of the athlete on the ice who seems to feel nothing or suffer, who rallies like an automaton and who grows larger as the exchange increases in intensity. When he puts on the cap, the young Italian is transformed. “Well, when I was about six or seven, I was angry, yes, but I would say not very much. “In general, I’ve always tried to be calm and have been that way for a long time,” he replies during a conversation in which he demonstrates the same poise that brought him to the elite of tennis, where he has already gone toe-to-toe with others, two benchmarks at the moment. moment, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

To get there, Sinner took an unusual route. He grew up playing football and, above all, climbing the dolomite slopes of his region, near the border with Austria. He became the national champion in cross-country skiing at age eight, but preferred the racket. “I think it helped me achieve good body balance and also when sliding, but this is completely different. The fear you have when skiing is different because when you throw yourself down, anything can happen to you, and tennis is not so dangerous,” he says. He also did not take the most common route to access the elite environment. “He gave up the intermediate level and dove straight into professionalism. “I’ve always enjoyed facing opponents who are better than me because I think it’s the best way to test yourself and learn something new. I played in some junior tournaments when I was 15 or 16, but then I started in futures (Together with applicants, prelude to the ATP chain). Be among the top five to ten rating the younger one was not important to me; It was important to try to overcome these difficult moments on the track,” he says.

Daily life at his parents’ restaurant also fostered a largely unchangeable mentality. An emotional stability that reminds his head coach Darren Cahill of how Swedes Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander handled delicate moments. “Of course, sometimes I get angry because I feel tired, but usually I have good head control. I am sure about that. I think over the last two years, especially last season, I’ve taken a leap in that sense to understand myself better. At the end of the day, the only thing you can control is your mind,” he continues, aware that the last few months and especially the success achieved in Australia have brought him to the forefront and therefore the story will continue. change to from now on.

If last year was a watertight one-on-one showdown between Djokovic and Alcaraz, this year offers a thought-provoking alternative that was immediately spotted this season in Melbourne. There’s a solo concert there. A real walk. Another co against the Serb, the third in less than three months. “Yes, of course. I feel that now they respect me more, but at the same time everything is different because they know me much better and know what my weak points are. I have to be prepared for this, and that is so I’m practicing how to react to this new situation. Others already know how I play. In this sense, I was little known before, but now everyone, or at least most, will have nothing to lose against me, and this is something different, because my opponents will play with less pressure,” he foresees.

In any case, Sinner, who returned these days to the tournament in Rotterdam, assures that the knockout of Australia or the growing fame does not change his plan at all. “There is always pressure, but the biggest pressure I put on myself; The rest doesn’t concern me,” says the world number four. “Achieve one? Yes, but there are still three big ones ahead and I would like to do better than last year. I reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon and it won’t be easy to improve on that result; at Roland Garros I reached the second round; and at the US Open I reached the 1/8 finals. One of the goals is to achieve more in these tournaments. But I’m going step by step. To become one, you must first go through two, and previously through three. Let’s see what he can do this year,” he adds with characteristic modesty.

They say that he is a very un-Italian Italian, or that he does not fit the prototype of an Italian. Contented, white and cautious, silent and sober in action, he says he took just a couple of days off after the Australian summit and that when he went to Rome to see President Georgia Meloni, he got up early to strengthen his physique. in the gym. “I get more attention now, but nothing has changed,” he emphasizes in English, which he speaks along with German. “All we know is that I need to improve if I want to achieve my next goals,” he continues, demanding “to be a better player” and predicting a bright future in which he, Alcaraz (20) and the Dane Holger Rune (20) is called upon to take the reins of power if some rebel does not join.

“Everyone has a different style of play and we are also different mentally, which is very good,” he says, drawing parallels with Djokovic. “Yes, I think my tennis is similar to Novak’s. We both played well from deep, but also tried to get into the net and slid in the same way. I was lucky to have met him, Federer and Nadal, although Roger is unfortunately no longer here. I tried to watch everything they do in and out of the locker room to learn,” he continues, before answering the final question of whether he’ll go as far as expected: “Ugh, it’s hard to say where I’ll be at at some point.” decade, but hopefully I can look back and say that I managed to enjoy every moment. What matters now is that I have a group of good people behind me that I can trust. What may happen in the future is unknown, but it is very important to have the right people around you to walk the path together. “That’s the problem”.

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