Everyone is waiting for him at Wimbledon. The advertising campaign of an Italian coffee sponsoring him and the tournament is plastered all over the London Underground, with his face even on the turnstiles at Southfields station, one of the closest to the All England Club. But Jannik Sinner is also waiting for Wimbledon. “I can’t wait to get started,” he said, immune to the pressure of being the world number one, to the glamour that surrounds the new phenomenon that everyone wants a piece of.
Eve
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On the last day before starting to get serious, Sinner treated himself to a Sunday of work. In the Aorangi, the area of the club reserved for athletes where there are practice fields, he spent two hours training against Marton Fucsovics, the 32-year-old Hungarian number 69 in the world who won in Bucharest this year and who Jannik could find himself against at second round, should he miss the Italian derby with Matteo Berrettini. While the two were training, trying out the match rhythm that will be necessary to maintain from tomorrow, outside, beyond the hedge, many onlookers tried to peek to see a piece of the star that everyone is waiting for.
the debut
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Sinner, rather than the star, feels like a man on a mission with only his debut in mind, tomorrow’s in the last of the three matches on Court 1 against the German Yannick Hanfmann. Number 95 in the world, never beyond the first round of Wimbledon in his career, the 32-year-old was also the first obstacle for Sinner at the 2023 US Open, their only previous one, with the blue who eliminated him 6-3 6-1 6- 1. In training sessions since he arrived at Wimbledon, including the one on Centrale with Novak Djokovic on Thursday, Jannik has always seemed solid, polished, in optimal condition, unlike when he showed up at Roland Garros. “In Paris I had many doubts, here I have no doubts about my physical condition, I’m not worried about my form – he said -. I’m only thinking about the first obstacle, which will be a difficult and tough match with which to open a Slam. Above all on the grass. For the moment there’s only that in my head, let’s see the rest.”
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favorite
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The rest is a tournament that Sinner starts as favourite, with the spotlight shining on him, with the idea that if last year at Wimbledon Jannik was a talent in search of consecration (he had been chosen, together with Carlos Alcaraz, as one of the symbols of the Next Gen in the poster of the 2023 edition), he is now one of the top stars of world tennis, a point of reference for everyone. “I certainly have more confidence than last year, also thanks and as a consequence of all the work we have done, of the results achieved in recent months – he explained -. This is a special tournament, different from all the others. We will see how it goes , but I will always be honored to be here and happy to take the field: that remains the most important part.” Sinner will also have the spotlight on him, the attention of the public, sponsors, VIPs: in his mind, however, there is only tennis, which for him remains entertainment even now that it has become a job. In his head, more than the glamor and rituals of Wimbledon, there is Hanfmann: the first opponent in a race that promises to be long.
