Jannik Sinner’s perfect day. In one fell swoop the South Tyrolean reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the first time and above all he will become the new world number one. Just at the moment in which the South Tyrolean was finishing his match against Grigor Dimitrov, Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal was announced due to the knee injury suffered in yesterday’s match against Francisco Cerundolo.
In the usual interview after the match with Fabrice Santoro, the former French tennis legend he kept the news of the number 1 from Jannik at first, asking him about the match with Dimitrov: “I knew him well, I knew what to expect, given that we also played against him in Miami. Always difficult to face him, he is a very talented boy. The atmosphere was special and I want to thank the audience“.
Still on today’s performance: “My performance was solid especially in the first two sets. I had a break when I served for the match, but I quickly made up for it and I’m happy with how I finished and how I played.”
Santoro stalls again and asks Sinner about the difficulties he will face again a player with a one-handed backhand: “We need to play differently and fix some things. It’s definitely different, but I still think it’s good for tennis to have players with a one-handed backhand.”
On tonight’s match between Alcaraz and Tsitsipas, from which Jannik’s next opponent will emerge: “I’m sure it will be a good match. I have a couple of days to prepare and it will definitely be a great pleasure to come back here.”
Santoro left the most important news right at the end, with Jannik becoming visibly emotional when he discovered he became number one in the world: “It’s everyone’s dream to become number one in the world. I’m sorry to hear that Novak has withdrawn and I hope he recovers as soon as possible. I’ll try not to think about it too much since there’s a semi-final to prepare for and I’m happy to have reached it. I thank my team and obviously you in the audience too. This is a special moment and I am very happy to share it with those who are also watching from Italy.”
Statements from Vanni Gibertini
