2024 was a year in which Jannik Sinner learned a lot both on and off the tennis court. The Italian champion has won a lot this season and he became with full merit the best player in the world, with a consistency out of the ordinary for an athlete of just 23 years. The world number 1 has improved in all respects, winning two Grand Slam titles and three Masters 1000. The Italian ace suffered only six defeats in 2024 and showed incredible mental strength, considering that he had to face a long trial for the famous doping case.
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The 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria has had very stressful months and spent several sleepless nights, which affected him during the Wimbledon Championships, in which he came one step closer to the retirement in the quarterfinals against Daniil Medvedev.ITIA recognized Jannik as innocent just before the start of the US Open, but WADA decided to appeal against the acquittal ruling and a new trial was opened. Sinner will have to wait until the first months of 2025 to finally know his fate, in the hope of not suffering a disqualification that would be quite shocking.
Sinner can win theATP Finals
Three more events separate the Italian ace from well-deserved rest. After deciding to skip the ATP 500 in Vienna, where he had lifted the trophy last year, the 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria is practicing for the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. The final Masters 1000 of the season will be a very useful test in view of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
A last part of the season full of emotions where Sinner will try to forget the appeal of WADA regarding the Clostebol case, situation that keeps in anxiety all tennis fans and that will see in a few months the decision on the future of the champion with possible disqualification.
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These days Jannik has given an interview to Sky Sport Italy that will be broadcast in a kind of documentary on the blue in the coming weeks. Jannik spoke about his childhood and much more, and some backstory emerged with part of the interview already revealed. Sinner recounted: "I go to Sesto Pusteria 3-4 times a year to see my parents and grandparents. Success has not changed me as a person".
Sinner continued and told a curious story about his childhood: "As a child with my friends we would go to ring a bell of a gentleman and then ran away. Now that gentleman is 85 years old, I saw him again and he smiled back to me: "Jannik, I remember when you came to play. These are the beautiful things that make you smile and give you strength".
During the interview, Sinner also talked about the doping case and continued: "I didnt know how to behave myself, I didnt know what would come out, I didnt know what would happen with the team. I couldnt open up to so many people. It was easy to lose control. I didnt sleep, like the night before the match against Medvedev at Wimbledon. One morning I woke up and realized that the judges decision was not up to me but that I had done nothing wrong".
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A crazy mental strength
The two-time Grand Slam champion will be the big favorite at the ATP Finals for two reasons: he can play with the support of his fans and the surface is ideal for his style of play. Sinner had already reached the feat in Turin last year, when he only surrendered in the final to a great Nole Djokovic. The Italian ace has improved further in the last twelve months and seems to have a little more than Carlos Alcaraz in indoor conditions.
Despite the problems he had, Jannik was able to isolate himself from the outside when he played tennis: "The moment I go on the court and put on my cap, for me only the tennis ball exists. On the court I feel safe. Then we saw that it is difficult to play like that, but that is another matter. But I feel safe."When I see the ball and I am about to serve, all my focus and desire is to hit the ball on the court. Because in the end it is my job and my passion. The problem and the work had to be separated. And I have always tried to feel good on the court, I have always trained, I have always prepared myself mentally to play tennis well and in the end it is precisely for this reason that I succeeded.
