Sinner, the glass in this case is not half full: words from the new world No. 1 freeze fans.
In just under a year, just about everything has happened. He gave himself his first Masters 1000, then handed Italy the long-awaited Davis Cup. He fought like a lion at the Atp Finals, and last but not least, with the new year just beginning, he won his first Slam. The rest is history. Because Jannik Sinner, that’s for sure, is already a legend.
And they have no doubt, his tour colleagues, that he is the player who has risen most rapidly and abruptly in recent times. It would be foolish to deny it, on the other hand: his incredible ascent is there for all to see, and everyone has seen how hard the azure has been working to achieve his goals and realize the dreams he has been cherishing ever since he left the mountains he loved so much to move to Bordighera as a young boy.
We knew, after all, that he was destined to be at the top of the rankings. We may not have imagined it happening so soon, but in our hearts we were already aware of it. The only one who was perhaps not convinced was him alone, the person directly involved, who is often so hard on himself that he is not fully aware of his greatness and invaluable talent. And he seems to be unaware of it even now that he holds the scepter and crown of the world’s No. 1.
Sinner half-happy: “I have everything to lose “
It is an incredibly lucid and rational analysis that the champion from Sesto Pusteria delivered to Tuttosport on his best day, the one in which the ranking was actually updated crowning him king of the ranking. An analysis that perhaps one would not expect from a 22-year-old grappling with the best moment of his career.
“They have nothing left to lose against me,” he said referring to his opponents, “and I have everything to lose, but that’s the exciting part. And I like that … You have to work to have new solutions on the court, and that will hopefully be my next step. I try to prepare myself to be more unpredictable on the court. This is what I want to learn in the coming months.” “Every tournament is a great opportunity to show something new,” he added, “and also the will to win as much as possible. But don’t forget the process as well. If you want to become a better tennis player, sometimes you have to lose.”
There is “sadism” in his words, happy as he is that the “worst” is yet to come. Because if he has had to work hard to get this far, he will have to do even more from now on to defend the peak he has just achieved.
