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Jannik Sinner had a dream fortnight at the Australian Open 2024, where he ended Novak Djokovic's streak of 33 consecutive victories in Melbourne and completed a sensational comeback against Daniil Medvedev in the final. Among the colleagues who praised the young Italian are Djokovic himself, Carlos Alcaraz and Medvedev, the three tennis players who precede him in the rankings.
And Sinner could overtake the Russian at the ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam and become the new ATP No.3 but to do so he will have to win the title. No Italian has ever reached this high in the Open Era.
"It's nice to hear that, especially from someone who has already won great titles.
Of course there will always be a lot of pressure, but the biggest pressure comes from myself. I expect a lot from myself, I always want to give my best. To be ATP No.1 you must first be number three and number two. This is to say that you have to proceed step by step.
The real goal this year is to do better in the Grand Slam tournaments. At Wimbledon I reached the semi-finals, so it will be difficult to improve on that result! But at Roland Garros and the US Open I have to do better," said Jannik in an exclusive interview with the French magazine L'Équipe.
"The goal is always to improve"
In Italy, Sinner has become (in spite of himself, considering his confidentiality) a media phenomenon, which began thanks to the fantastic ride he experienced at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where the connection with the crowd and the interest of the Italian media reached levels difficult to to describe.
Everything then exploded at the Australian Open, because Sinner allowed millions of Italians to dream with him in a journey that found its best epilogue in the victory of the first Slam of his career. Since that moment, his popularity, already constantly growing, has increased dramatically.
"In Italy there is a lot of attention around me after the victory at the Australian Open. But it's nice to share all this with the fans. As far as I'm concerned, however, nothing has changed personally. My team and I know what to do to improve and we have not changed the way we work.
The goal is always to improve. Now my opponents respect me more. At the same time, they know me better and know what my weaknesses are. You have to be ready, which is why I immediately went back to work after Melbourne. We'll see how I handle this situation, I'm definitely no longer a surprise to others.
Most of the players will have nothing to lose against me and things will be different, because they will play with more freedom," said Jannik in the same interview with L'Équipe.