Sinner is preparing to play his first tournament as n°1 in the world ranking atATP 500 in Halle – with Tallon Griekspoor his opponent on his debut -, where five years earlier he had had the pleasure of meeting and training with another world No. 1 and tennis legend, Roger Federerwho on that occasion gave the then seventeen-year-old Jannik some advice that the South Tyrolean revealed to ATP Average.
When Sinner acted as Federer’s sprint partner
Waiting for his debut on grass Halle, Sinner he told ad ATP Average an anecdote dating back to the 2019 edition – at the time Jannik was only seventeen years old and was registered in the qualifying draw, practically another tennis era – when he had the honor of meeting Federer: “I remember that Roger’s coach, Severin Luthi, stopped me on the hotel stairs and suggested that I warm up Roger before the fight. I replied: ‘Of course!’. It was amazing”.
King Roger’s advice to Sinner
Sinner he also told an anecdote about the advice that Federer gave him on the occasion of their first meeting, advice which the South Tyrolean has certainly taken to heart seeing the results obtained and, above all, the way in which he approaches tennis: “Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to challenge Federer in a official match and I’m sorry, but I remember training with him. He gave me some very important advice from a mental point of view: try to have fun and keep working hard”. That was also the tenth and last title won by Roger in Halle – of which he is the most successful ever – and the penultimate ever of his career.
Debut with Griekspoor in Halle
The hope is that these memories linked to Halle load even more Sinner ahead of his first tournament as world no. 1 and his seasonal debut on grass, his favorite surface Federer, who won an impressive 19 titles on the lawns – 10 in Halle, 8 at Wimbledon and one in Stuttgart -. Jannik, on the other hand, will try to win his first grass tournament here – it would be his fourth of the season – and to do so he will have to beat Tallon Griekspoor at the debut. Not a simple adverb, but one that the South Tyrolean has beaten in the previous four, with the last two held in 2024 in Rotterdam And You love metournaments later won by Sinner. In general, every time Jannik faced the Dutchman he reached at least the final and not only won the title in 2023 atATP 500 Rotterdam.
