Red-haired and freckled, with a whitish complexion closer to an Anglo-Saxon specimen than a Latin specimen, Jannik Sinner, 22 years old, is a very unconventional Italian. Despite being established as a new transalpine sports reference along with Valentino Rossi, Alberto Tomba, Fausto Coppi, Roberto Baggio or Francesca Pellegrini, the new emerging phenomenon of world tennis neither gestures, nor is he expressive, nor too talkative, as he could have been. seen at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne when receiving the Australian Open trophy that already accredits him as one of the greats.
And Sinner, fourth tennis player in the ATP ranking, is marked, for better and for worse, by his Alpine origin, in the distant Dolomites bordering Austria, and his family origin with Germanic roots. So much so that until recently, before embracing the glory of his first grand slam, Jan was not considered “completely Italian” in his country, where they questioned his Italianness, his love of country and his soul so little latin.
Being a border citizen of the Repubblica, raised in the Fondovalle mountain refuge, where his father, Hanspeter, was the cook, and his mother, Siglinde, managed the establishment and the dining room, marked the career of young Jan: he started in the sport with skis, a way of life in the alpine environment, and became Italian giant slalom champion at the age of 8 and runner-up at the age of 12. Tennis, like bicycles, was for the summer, in the absence of snow.
It was not until he was 13 that the Sinner boy dedicated himself exclusively to the racket, when his parents saw his good manners and were able to pay for him to go to school with veteran coach Riccardo Piatti in Bordighera, the Italian Riviera, next to Monaco, where Novak Djokovic and Richard learned. Gasket. “Skiing was dangerous; a bad fall could jeopardize an entire season; In tennis you can lose and end up winning, and you can also play all year round,” argued Sinner, ending up choosing the racket as an instrument to achieve success.
“My parents always let me choose what I wanted, they never put pressure on me because I also played another sport. I hope that this freedom is also possible for all young people,” commented Sinner, who admitted to having matured thanks to moving away from the family nest as a teenager. “I grew up very fast, cooking and doing laundry when I was 14 years old. It was very hard for me, but it was harder for them [his parents].”
Sinner, who speaks German – learned from his parents – in addition to English and Italian, forged his cold, resilient and self-sacrificing character in a wild and raw environment like the high mountains, serving dishes or helping in the kitchen. If his budding tennis career did not bear fruit, a future surrounded by snow awaited him. That's pressure. “There always is, but it can turn into something good. It is a privilege because there are not many players who have this pressure. "I like to dance in a storm of pressure," he conveyed his philosophy in Melbourne after becoming the second youngest tennis player to win the Australian Open, at 22 years and 165 days, only surpassed by Novak Djokovic (20 years and 250 days). in 2008), which he beat in the semifinals in Melbourne.
Resident in Monte Carlo for tax reasons (to pay less taxes), Sinner has become the new idol of Italian sport, elevated to legendary status at only 22 years old. He even received congratulations from Pope Francis. “Today Jannik Sinner writes a new page in history that makes us proud. For the first time, Italy wins the Australian Slam,” said the Italian Prime Minister, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, ignoring the boy's economic exile.
A Jannik Sinner, spearhead of the latest version of the Next Gen (which won in 2019) alongside Carlos Alcaraz, who has built his castle on a narrow, solid, impermeable circle of trust, formed by his two coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, his advisor and friend, the former tennis player Alex Vittur, his girlfriend Maria Graccini, model and influencer, his parents – who instilled in him a culture of effort and sacrifice –, his adoptive older brother Mark, his physical trainer Umberto Ferrara , and his manager, the British Lawrence Frankopan, who has facilitated him signing a contract of 150 million euros for 10 years with Nike.
“Sinner and Alcaraz can be like Federer and Nadal in the coming years,” predicts the legendary Nicola Pietrangeli at 90 years old, two-time winner of Roland Garros (1959 and 1960).
