Home » Sinner at Sportweek: “I’m only serious on the pitch”

Sinner at Sportweek: “I’m only serious on the pitch”

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After a 2021 in the top ten, the South Tyrolean of records is preparing for the final climb. And he confesses on Sportweek: “I live for tennis, but off the court I am very different. I laugh, joke, I enjoy myself. In girls I look for sincerity. And I get angry with those who rush me for no reason”

Federica Cocchi

The red baron of Italian tennis is ready to go again. Red like the passion he puts into work, in training. Red like the flaming racing cars he loves so much “for speed, certainly not for luxury”.

For Jannik Sinner, speed is, in fact, a trademark: he grew very quickly, broke several barriers early and ended 2021 as a top ten. A frenzied pace, which puts him on a par with the phenomena that have dominated the history of tennis. 2022 will be the year of the definitive climb to the places that matter. Riccardo Piatti, his mentor, a technician, almost a second father, said it clearly. The one who brought him from the mountains of Val Fiscalina to the mild climate of Bordighera: “At the beginning of 2021 I thought that a goal could be to qualify for the Finals, so to do that he had to be able to play between 50 and 60 games or even more . For 2022 the situation is similar: playing the same number of games again, aiming to qualify again for the final act of the circuit in Turin. If he manages to make that number of matches, considering the level of the tournaments he participates in, it is automatically among the top 8 in the world. ”In short, the Italy of tennis, for this year, focuses on red.

Jannik, not even time to finish the season, in Turin, with the Atp Finals and Davis Cup, and it’s already time to start over. If you stop to think about the extraordinary experiences of 2021, what do you feel you have learned?

“2021 was a very long, intense, difficult year. I had many new experiences because I played for the first time many tournaments that I did not know and this certainly made me improve even more. But the road is really very long, we are only at the beginning and I am sure that even in the season that has just begun there will be many new experiences that will leave me with something important “.

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You seem to have matured from a human point of view as well.

“It is so, inevitably. Time passes for everyone … Seriously, the new tournaments, the travels, the news, facing difficult moments, everything has helped me to mature also as a person. This is why I consider the past year to be very, very positive for me. But I’m not one who loves looking back so much, I like living in the present, concentrating on what is happening “.

In the meantime, you have matured sufficiently to become a team man. Both in the Davis Cup, the last match of last season, and at the Sydney ATP Cup, where you won all the matches in singles. Playing as a team is strange for you tennis players, do you like it?

“A lot. The team competition gives you a lot more responsibility, and then it’s an honor to play for this incredible group and represent the whole nation. We started with the ATP Cup, which is a little different from Davis, but we’ve always played. for Italy, wearing the blue jersey, and that’s what counts. Unfortunately, Sydney didn’t go as we hoped but we are still happy to have started all together. A crazy charge “.

In Turin you got involved in the warmth of the people, showing a much more passionate side of you.

“It’s true. The public is a weapon. In addition to the joy of feeling that it pushes you, that it cheers for you, I am also learning to ‘use it’ to my advantage. It is not easy for a player to have the whole audience against…”.

You and Matteo Berrettini have made those who don’t usually follow it fall in love with tennis. On the beach this summer we heard about you as much as about the transfer market. What effect does it have: pride, pressure, extra motivation?

“From a certain point of view it is certainly very nice: not only Matteo and I, but this whole generation of Italian tennis players is helping the whole country to fall in love with this sport and we must continue like this, on this path. If we grow up, it will grow too. the passion of the people. From another point of view, personally, I am not dwelling much on this aspect because I do not have to be satisfied. My task is to focus on daily improvement because for many things I still have to grow “.

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Returning to you and Berrettini: you have finally been able to play double, for Italy. In Turin between you there was a painful relay, with the retirement of Matteo from the Finals and your entry into the tournament as a reserve. Was it an experience that united you?

“Until a few hours before the game I didn’t really know what was going to happen, then I received a message on my mobile from Matteo:” Warm up and have fun “, it was written. Knowing that you have this responsibility, that you have to play such an important competition directly from him was obviously different. He made another impression on me, he made me happy even though I felt sorry for him. “

On the camera you then wrote “Matteo you are an idol”. In this way you have moved all of Italy.

“On that camera I instinctively wrote what was going through my mind, but that’s what I really believe in: Matteo is a true idol, what he did last year for all of Italian tennis is unique and will remain in the history. This is why it is a pleasure and an emotion to be at his side “.

Speaking of the group, a few days before leaving for Australia you went to “say hello” to Milan, your favorite team. How was your Rossoneri faith born?

“When I arrived in Bordighera I was at home with a boy, Lorenzo Ferri, a true Milan fan. From that moment I started watching the games with him, we didn’t miss one, and I too fell in love with the Devil! It was really nice to have the chance to go to Milanello, unfortunately we had just lost in the Champions League against Liverpool, but all the players were there to welcome me and I saw them train with determination and concentration. ”

Is there anyone who impressed you more than others during training?

“They all impressed me. Obviously, seeing Ibrahimovic up close, who has made a piece of the history of this sport, has a different effect. It was exciting to see a professional of that level who still has a great desire to work and improve. But, not only for Zlatan, it will remain a day that I will always remember “.

“I love playing tennis, whether it’s tournaments, training, watching matches. Tennis is my life and so no, it doesn’t weigh on me. From my parents I learned that work is the most important thing, with commitment and dedication. I will have time later to take holidays… “.

However, we saw you in a video on social media: you ski like a true professional.

“It was nice to go home to my family and get back to putting on skis. Then meeting friends of a lifetime and being with them as it once was is always a very important thing to me. I had a short but fantastic time after a intense season with many emotions. When I am surrounded by nature, in my mountains, I feel really good, I feel at peace with myself “.

Were you able to do some descents with your friend Lindsey Vonn?

“Unfortunately, no. We weren’t able to catch us because she arrived a little later, when I had already started training in Bordighera, but I expect to be able to ski with her one day. We will definitely try Lindsey again, I’ll wait for you!”.

You talked about loved ones, whom you have known for a lifetime. What are you looking for in a friend?

“Humility, calm, mutual trust”.

“In a person who loves me I look for sincerity. That he really loves me”.

But don’t you ever get angry, Jannik?

“I rarely get angry with people, perhaps only when I find someone who is really not humble or when I get rushed for no reason. In reality, however, I always try to make the best of those I hang out with.”

But what is Jannik Sinner like off the pitch: a tireless worker who never wanders or a 20-year-old boy who also loves to enjoy life?

“On the pitch I am very determined, focused on performance and results and perhaps I don’t care much about the image that I let out. Outside, however, I assure you that I am much less serious.”

“I like to have fun, laugh, joke: unfortunately people get an idea only with what they have the opportunity to see on TV, but behind the athlete there is always a person and often it is very different from how it appears. I have these two aspects of personality, I admit: I like myself as I am “.

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