We can already hear the chorus of indignados faced with a statement of this magnitude: Jannik Sinner is the best Italian sportsman ever. And we feel them because it has always worked like this in our country: when something works – and it works well – there is always a niche of detractors and deniers ready to activate the mud machine, of suspicion. Implying this or that. They had been trying ever since Sinner seemed – but it only seemed to them – not to like participating in the Davis Cup. «It’s normal! We’re still talking about a Kraut…”. Because then Alto Adige, until proven otherwise, is still part of the country, just like Syracuse or Rome. Yet Italy won that Davis match. Guess what: dragged by who?
And then Sanremo was the goad to stimulate the enough against it on duty: «He could have gone to Amadeus! If he’s pissed off, sure enough he’s pissed off.” Only to then criticize Sinner himself, accusing him of being too present in the sponsored commercials. But why, hadn’t he been excessive in not agreeing to wear a tuxedo and go sing or imitate the qua qua dance with Fiorello? Now the problem is the ads. Then, the overly tempting assist that made even the most lucid Italians give up: the Clostebol case, the doping confiscated in the form of cream inadvertently transmitted by the former physiotherapist during a massage. A fact amply demonstrated by the presence of an infinitesimal quantity of the prohibited substance in the sample’s body. So, no stain, but the niche was waiting for nothing else and the bread got a little soaked. In the meantime, a couple of Slams have arrived, some Masters 500 and 1000, semi-finals of (other) Slams, the failure to participate in the Paris Olympics (and more mud and suspicions, logically linked to the doping case). But above all, the best brick of all was placed: the victory of the Masters at the end of the year, winning all five matches and leaving barely any crumbs to the opponents. Disarmed and helpless. All under the gaze of the Turin public, rewarded with a five-year extension of the ATP Finals at their home. Could it be the Sinner effect? Of course it is, but don’t tell that to the detractors-deniers, who will have kept their iPhone in airplane mode this evening, perhaps waiting for a misstep, a suspicion or the birth of another champion ready to duel with Jannik. Because at the moment, on this planet, it does not exist.