Jannik Sinner follows his own path and reaches the top at the Australian Open

After almost every rally, Jannik Sinner’s gaze went to his support team in the stands of the Rod Laver Arena. The Italian was unable to compete in the first two sets of the Australian Open final on Sunday against Daniil Medvedev, the Russian who had already completed three five-setters in the past two weeks and was clearly not planning to turn it into another marathon match. . When an early defeat loomed for Sinner, his Australian coach Darren Cahill shouted: “Keep playing aggressively.” Sinner increased his level and three sets later he was, for the first time, a Grand Slam champion: 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-3.

After the decisive point, the 22-year-old tennis player fell on his back, a gesture he had omitted a round earlier – after his victory over Novak Djokovic. Although the victory over the ten-time champion in Melbourne had been one of historic proportions – Djokovic had never lost a semi-final at the Australian Open before – Sinner was well aware that the prizes will only be distributed in the final battle. “A final is always different. It doesn’t matter how big the tournament is,” he said in a preview of his match against Medvedev.

This statement characterizes the mature player that Sinner has become. His breakthrough to the absolute top took a relatively long time. Especially compared to contemporary Carlos Alcaraz, the Spaniard who, as a nineteen-year-old, became the youngest number one in the world in September 2022 after his final victory at the US Open. With his second Grand Slam title, last summer at Wimbledon after an epic final against Djokovic, Alcaraz seemed to become the new sole ruler in global men’s tennis.

But Sinner thought differently. “I consciously follow my own path to the top,” he said in February 2023 NRC during the Rotterdam ATP tournament. A few days later he would lose Ahoy to Medvedev in the final.

Painful defeat

Sinner’s path to the world top takes a new turn when he says goodbye to Riccardo Piatti in 2022, the coach who has guided him since his teenage years. He chooses Simone Vagnozzi, and Cahill will also join in a few months. That year at Wimbledon, Sinner lost to Djokovic in the quarter-finals – losing a 2-0 lead in sets. It was a painful defeat that made Sinner realize that something has to change, Cahill said in Melbourne. “Then we were able to sit down with him and talk about the improvements that were needed.”

According to Cahill, Sinner is a fast and good learner. “On the training court he absorbs the information well and he likes to work on things that make him a better tennis player.” An important change in Sinner’s game is the serve. For example, when serving, he places his feet differently to be able to jump higher so that he hits the ball at a higher point. The result is there: Sinner starts working on his serve in the spring of 2023, and wins his first 1000 tournament on the ATP Tour that summer. In November he reached the final battle of the ATP Finals in Turin and later that month he was the outstanding leader of the Italian team, which won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976.

The final victory in the nations tournament influences Sinner’s preparation for the Australian Open, Cahill told the Italian newspaper in December Corriere della Sera. “The Davis Cup has made the difference. Five extra games, meaning the season didn’t end until November 26. Not bad, but that was later than expected.” In order to get and keep his body and mind fresh, it was decided that Sinner would not play any tournaments in the run-up to the first Grand Slam of the year.

Sinner went skiing in South Tyrol, his native region. It is the sport he practiced until he was fourteen. “I just did that with my friends before or after school. Purely for fun,” Sinner told NRC last year about his youth. “Just like I played tennis for fun. It was only when I was fourteen that I started working on this in a professional manner. Much later than many others.”

Praise for parents

Despite his later start, Sinner is now the youngest Australian Open champion since Djokovic in 2008. If Cahill is to be believed, it won’t be his last major title either. “He has the qualities that many champions in this sport have. But in order for it to flourish, you first have to start winning,” said the Australian. “And we must continue to try to get better together.”

Cahill doesn’t have to worry about that, it turned out at the award ceremony in Melbourne. “Even during the tournament we are looking for ways to become even stronger,” Sinner said to his coaching team from the podium. Then he mentions the most important people in his life: his father and mother, who had stayed at home. “I would wish everyone my parents. I have also done other sports, but they have always given me the choice and never pressured me. I would like that to apply to everyone in the world.”

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