Djokovic beats Sinner, Gianni Valenti’s comment in the Gazzetta

The Master of masters is Novak Djokovic, but Jannik Sinner is learning quickly and very well. The verdict of the Turin Finals already projects us towards next season. The challenge has been launched, Italian sport has found a true champion who will accompany us with his exploits for the next few years. We should be proud of this boy of just 22 years old who embodies the best values ​​of sport. Our young people have found an example to follow, tennis enthusiasts the blue which can give them great satisfaction. Once upon a time there were Nadal, Federer and Djokovic himself who gave us adrenaline every time they took to the court. From today on Jannik will take care of it. In a week he has made it clear to the world of tennis that he is ready to overthrow the hierarchies. The future lies entirely in his racket. The number one world ranking is a concrete objective today, the first victory in a Grand Slam tournament must arrive next season. Sinner has shown that he is improving quickly.

In the last six months his tennis has made a clear leap in quality. As a player who aspired to enter the top ten in the world, we find him today at number 4, with some Finals played as an experienced tennis player to his credit. The clear defeat against Novak Djokovic is just a springboard towards more ambitious goals. Beating the Serbian champion twice in a single week would have been an almost extraordinary feat. The difference with Nole is still there and can be seen. But it’s not as big as the flow of the game might suggest. Yesterday’s Jannik, perhaps for the first time in his career, suffered under pressure. The whole of Italy was there cheering. For one Sunday in the squares and in the bars there was no talk of football, but of tennis and the red wine of the Pusteria Valley which it is impossible not to love for its simple and polite ways. And also for that sportsmanship that paradoxically, perhaps, cost him the tournament. Goran Ivanisevic, Nole’s coach, was right to praise the Italian for the success over the Danish Rune in the group stage which saved Djokovic from elimination. There are those who would have done the calculations leaving the world number one in the abyss. Jannik no, he won that match because he didn’t want to betray his audience. And perhaps also because he was cultivating the ambition of meeting Djokovic in the final and beating him again.

He, the Cannibal of modern tennis, has demonstrated once again how his 36 years are just a date reported in the documents. Season after season, he is rewriting the tennis history books. After the record in the Slams (24) he has now also taken over the record of successes in the Finals (7) which he shared with Roger Federer. The others retreat and he moves forward, only against the small phenomena of the Next Gen. Instead of feeling tired, he finds lifeblood from his successes and has no desire to stop. He looks ahead and sets no limits. The idea of ​​conquering the Grand Slam is certainly buzzing in his head. And that is the victory in a single year of the four Majors: Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open. It could be the culmination of a memorable and unsurpassed career. In 2024 he will certainly try, also because it could be the last chance. Here, Sinner takes example from Nole and puts even more intensity into his tennis. Starting with the Davis Cup finals which will be played this week in Malaga. He is the standard bearer of the blue team, he gives us another great joy.