You can be the tennis player to beat, win the first Slam of a career destined for success and remain the same as always. Ask Sinner to believe. In a world where true extravagance is perhaps remaining normal, Jannik fully follows the figure of the anti-star, despite the appointments in the Roman three-day event.
«Sanremo fan? Yes, from home”, he says, cutting off every conversation, about his possible presence on the most national-popular stage in Italy. And then the appeal to his peers. “I respect social media, but I don’t love them: I say to kids, be careful, real life isn’t there…”. And perhaps not even during the ‘Roman holidays’ which drag him into a vortex of troubles, personal and otherwise. All faced with a smile, but only as a brief interlude in a life of work and goals.
The residence in Monte Carlo
Sinner also smiles when asked about the criticism of his residence in Monte Carlo: are you coming back to Italy? “I went there because my coach from Bordighera lived there: there are many tennis players, excellent facilities, and I can go to the supermarket in peace. Honestly, I’m fine there…”. And this too is a closed discussion. After running on the treadmill and going to the gym in the morning in view of the real recovery (“I don’t go to Sanremo because I have to train on those days”), a visit to the Farnesina, where Minister Tajani, with Paolo Barelli (president of Fin and group leader of Fi to the Chamber) alongside, appointed him Italian ambassador in the world of sports diplomacy; then, once the press conference was over, in the afternoon the photo shooting at the Colosseum, also welcomed by ministers Sangiuliano and Santanchè. Sinner prefers books to worldliness and social media, training sessions to the Sanremo catwalk and celebrations in his Sesto in Rome: “I wanted to return, but it wasn’t the right place to celebrate there”, out of “respect” for the mourning that has struck the town of Tyrol, with the death of a mother and her two children in a car accident. Perhaps these are precisely the secrets of a 22-year-old who aims to become world number one in tennis, but in his own way, despite Sinner-mania raging throughout the country.
The no to Sanremo
«I am the same as two weeks ago», is the debut in the press conference in Rome. And you have to believe him. The smile is the same, the outfit too. A beige cardigan and a white t-shirt. Nothing over the top. This is also why “I will be rooting for Sanremo from home”, he immediately makes it clear. Then he explains: «When I should have been at the Festival, I will already be working and that’s what I like to do, which is why I won’t go». Therefore, the disinterested advice of Prime Minister Meloni yesterday was of little use. It’s better to work without distractions and this is also why you only see people on social networks for work.
At the Colosseum
Like the photo at the Colosseum with the Cup raised. “I don’t like them, they don’t reflect the truth. That’s why I tell kids to be careful. I personally live better without it and I will continue to do so”: a weighty invitation, in times of controversy over haters and consequences of messages via social media. Sinner on the other hand is this, a decision maker, with an out of the ordinary education imprint, and everything he does is aimed at the sporting result and the set objectives. This season there are several, because after winning the Australian Open, he now wants to do well in the others too, aim for number one and in between get a medal in Paris 2024, possibly gold.
The Paris Olympics
«The Olympics will be a key moment for my growth – says Sinner – I’m happy to play them and I hope that Italy can bring home as many medals as possible». However, he is not thinking about the role of standard-bearer for now, now the objective “is to try to go hunting in every tournament”, aware that in a season there will be “good weeks and others less so”. The Australian ones were certainly fantastic and “when things go well you always want more”, swears the Italian champion. Pressure, then, doesn’t even know where it belongs, on the contrary. «It’s a privilege – he continues -. I don’t have any particular fears, because in the end I always think they are tennis matches. I am calm and we are working to achieve our dreams.” A non-random plural because he himself recognizes his team’s merits of exponential growth from June 2023 onwards. «But when I changed coach I said «I’ll throw myself into the fire» – he says – I wanted to know another working method. Vagnozzi and Cahill work well together and Darren has made many tennis players become number one.” Jannik is aiming for that but “in small steps” because first “position number three needs to be approached”. And close the last days of “Roman holidays”, tomorrow at the Quirinale with the meeting with the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, together with the other Davis Cup teammates.