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The victory at the ABN AMRO followed the victory at the Australian Open 2024, confirming the enormous progress already shown by Jannik Sinner in the second part of 2023.
The young champion received a lot of love from his country (even from some inconsistent media who previously had unfairly criticized) and many fans and media have also raised questions about his private life.
Jannik (I would rightly underline) never talks too willingly about his private life and, on the rare occasions when he makes statements on the matter, he prefers to immediately change the subject. The reason for this tendency is a confidentiality that the Italian wants to preserve for himself and his loved ones.
This is precisely one of Sinner's secrets, capable of concentrating on tennis and linking his image above all to the court, without leaving the media the possibility of introducing clues regarding the personal sphere.
Jannik wants people to talk about him for the feats he accomplished on the most important stages of the ATP Tour and for no other reason.
"I like talking about tennis, and sport in general. But if it refers to private life, it's true, I want to keep it that way. I want to protect the people closest to me, keeping them out of all this. I see it as a small task to carry out, almost a duty: they helped me, as a young man, to gain self-confidence, and today in some way I want to protect them. I might even talk about it.
But the people close to me think like me on this issue. Because they are very similar to me: we understand each other with a look, in a second. I only want to control the things that prevent me from doing my job. I avoid those that don't put me in a position to train peacefully the next day. But if I feel like going to the zoo, for example, I go. I'm a boy normal, off the court," Sinner explained in an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair.
🇮🇹 Jannik Sinner, the new idol of an entire country
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) February 20, 2024
(📷 @VanityFairIt) pic.twitter.com/XW2ZuiyccM
"I immediately thought about how I could improve further"
Jannik Sinner's first night as a Grand Slam champion may not have been the craziest in history, but it provides several clear clues to his mentality. The personality of a tennis player with an eye always projected towards new horizons.
The evening he won the first Major of his career, Jannik thought about the future and looked for reasons to continue improving and enriching his personal story, writing other winning chapters.
"I didn't celebrate excessively, I didn't drink, because it's not good for the body. We went to eat something and then I went back to the hotel. And when did you think about the victory? I had 20 hours in the flight.
I immediately thought about how I could improve further. I wondered why I ended up down two sets to zero, why I didn't react sooner. I'm a pretty focused guy. Which doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the moment," he explained in the same interview with Vanity Fair.
The future proved him right once again, because in Rotterdam Sinner triumphed and achieved his best ranking, reaching 3rd position in the ATP world rankings. No Italian in the Open Era had ever gone so high.
"The feeling was very nice, of course. But I didn't think much: at that moment I wouldn't have been able to really realize what had happened anyway. I watched a few films and fell asleep!" he told.
"I have always felt 100% Italian, and I am very proud of being so. At 7 I took part in ski championships with Italian kids, at 14 in Liguria my classmates were Italian. But then, we speak our German dialect, but Even in Sicily they speak a dialect that they don't understand in other parts of Italy, right?" Sinner said before focusing on his residence.
"The Principality is a very safe place, there are many tennis players with whom I can train, perfect courts, beautiful facilities. I always thought it would be a good place to live."
This response from Sinner came in regards to a question asked regarding the provocation of the well-known journalist Aldo Cazzullo, who pointed the finger at Sinner's possible candidacy as flag bearer for Italy at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
"Here it is not a question of sporting judgment but of moral judgment. No one disputes that Sinner is an extraordinary champion and that he is a good boy, kind and polite. But if we treat him as Italian pride, an example for society, then the the fact that this boy will be the standard-bearer of Italian sport in the coming years without contributing fiscally to the life of the community to which he is part is a problem," wrote Cazzullo.
