“I play tennis and I’m happy.” He gave us the title anyway Jannik Sinnerwith a sweet smile, during the first press conference since number 1 in the world. “I am very happy to have reached my first semi-final at Roland Garros – the words of the first Italian number 1 in the history of tennis – and even happier to have reached the first position in the ranking. It’s every player’s dream and I’m very proud of it.” But the tournament is still in progress and Jannik’s thoughts turn to the match he won against Grigor Dimitrov and to the match that in two days will offer a place in the Roland Garros final (where he will find Alcaraz or Tsitsipas): “I came here to make a good tournament, certainly not with the number 1 in mind – he explains -. We prepared to be competitive, we came here with some doubts and we still didn’t know exactly how to manage the recovery between one match and another but today I felt very good on the pitch. Now I will have two days off to rest a bit and train. I hope to be ready for the semi-final, it will be a difficult match but obviously I can’t wait to play it. These are the matches I train for every day, the semi-finals of a Slam tournament are always a great honor, playing them on the Centrale stadium, in a full stadium, is always nice.”
Next to number 1 there will only be his name, but Jannik Sinner wants to share this achievement with those who have been by his side throughout his journey: “I have always accepted the difficulties I have had in recent years – he explains – I have tried to accept them and understand them to do better in the future. This led me to be a better person and also a better player. I am lucky to have always had the right people next to me at the right time, otherwise I would never have been able to achieve this result. I will always continue to look for honest people, they are the only ones who help you grow and give you something extra, even if sometimes it hurts they have the strength to always tell you the truth. I have always looked for and wanted people of this type close to me, and they are the ones who have made me become a better person. I am happy with this achievement, I made many sacrifices when I was young and I have always continued to make sacrifices to improve myself, I made choices that were not simple, like the one two years ago, I threw myself into the fire and whether right or wrong at that moment is not I could have known.”
It’s difficult for Jannik to pinpoint the moment that changed his career: “The three match points with Djokovic in Davis? Maybe, but there were numerous moments that demonstrated how much I have improved on the pitch. That was a very important match for Italy, but I would say that there was a turning point in Beijing too. From there I started playing better and felt much more solid. Then the semi-final at Wimbledon, Toronto and the final in Turin, it’s difficult to say what the turning point was.” Sinner will officially be number 1 in the world with the publication of the ranking on Monday 10 June, but his great humility keeps him with his feet firmly on the ground: “The most important thing is to remain the boy I am – he concludes -, success does not it will change me, in the end it’s just a number and a title, then there’s a normal life outside of tennis. I want to remain the normal guy who sometimes likes to go go karting and do normal things with the people I love. Obviously I hope to remain number 1 for a while, otherwise I’ll be number 2 or number 3 but I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”
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