«It's all thanks to Jannik and what he managed to do at this young age. He's a guy who always did what had to be done, he never backed down. He forged ahead a bit, arriving at the age of 22 with really high level tennis. More than the merits of others, I believe they are merits of him.”
Thus Massimo Sartori, discoverer and first coach in adolescence of Jannik Sinner, guest of “Radio Anch'io Sport” on Rai Radio 1, on the magical moment of the South Tyrolean, yesterday winner of the Masters 1000 in Miami and from today number 2 in the world .
The mental control of matches is a “trademark” of the 22-year-old from South Tyrol: «He has always thought in this way, his greatest ability is to control what he did. In this tournament he showed that he is strong, at a higher level. The match with Griekspoor was difficult, but throughout the tournament he maintained a quality of tennis and points played that perhaps at the moment there is no one who can keep up with him. That match against the Dutchman he suffered, but always keeping control of what he does, he is sure, he never has doubts during the match. He can lose, but he never loses track of what he is doing on the pitch and in his life.”
«Jannik lives to go to world number 1, he continues to look for this goal every day and he will soon have the chance to do so – continues Sartori – It's a moment in which there are no opponents who can oppose him. If before there were 5-6 players like Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Murray, Del Potro, Wawrinka, Ferrer who could compete with each other, at the moment Jannik has superiority over everyone. Alcaraz plays very well, but he still doesn't have the quality to stay with top-level tennis for a long time. Djokovic is almost 37 years old and is in the final stage of his career. I can see very little behind it. Now that he returns to Europe he will just have to try to rest before starting the Monte Carlo tournament and adapt to the clay. Then the number 1 in the world will arrive, already this season.”
Finally, Sartori also focuses on the golden moment of Italian tennis: «I realize the work we did 20 years ago with Fognini, Bolelli and Seppi to bring them to a high level. We have built many coaches around ourselves, trying to work well from a young age. Now it is the best time ever for Italian tennis. Even behind the big names, many interesting kids continue to emerge.”