The story between Jannik Sinner and the Masters began four years ago, in November 2019. At the age of 18, the Italian tennis player, invited to the Masters Next Gen which took place at his home in Milan, made a notable entry onto the professional circuit. Barely in the Top 100 and the youngest of the competition which since 2017 has brought together the eight best players aged 21 and under of the season, the Transalpine won the title against the Australian Alex de Minaur, seeded number one.
“We already felt that he had monstrous potential,” recalls Camille Pin, former French player, now a consultant. I was then surprised by the speed at which he arrived in the top twenty in the world. » The native of San Candido, in the mountainous region of Trentino-Alto Adige (north-eastern Italy), achieved this in April 2021.
Then, at the end of the year, he tasted the fervor of the Masters among the “big guys”, again at home, in Turin. Ninth in the “Race” – the ranking which takes into account the results of the calendar year and determines the eight best players of the season – he replaced his injured compatriot Matteo Berrettini at short notice after the first of his three matches of group. Sinner will reap a victory and a defeat there.
Sunday, November 12, he will repel the Turin blue court of the Pala Alpitour, against Stefanos Tsitsipas (6th player in the world) at 2:30 p.m. And this time, the Italian, fourth in the “Race,” is one of the eight qualified for the Masters tournament, which closes the tennis year until November 19. “I can’t wait to come back and be truly qualified,” the 22-year-old recently confided in the ATP podcast, the body that governs the professional circuit. I think we feel better in this situation because it means we had a very good season, and I am very happy about that. »
The best season of his career
The one who was national vice-champion in giant slalom in 2012 and who only preferred the little yellow ball to skiing at the age of 13, went through the year 2023 at full speed. With six finals for four titles, including his first in Masters 1000 (the most important category after the Grand Slams) won in August in Toronto (Canada), and a first semi-final in a Major at Wimbledon (London), the fourth player world – its best ranking – with powerful and pure strikes has reached several milestones in 2023.
“I’ve improved physically, that’s for sure. I am much stronger. I can stay on the court for many hours without suffering. I think on a playing or pure tennis level, I feel better. If I have to play a slice, I can do it now without thinking. I can also go to the net knowing that I do well on the volley,” he analyzed in July, after his quarter-final at Wimbledon.
