A mature and determined 23-year-old who has exhibited extraordinary mental strength to put a doping scandal to the test and win another Australian Open belies Jannik Sinner’s reserved public persona.
Sinner’s status as Italy’s biggest sports star and the new face of men’s tennis has only increased over the past two weeks in Melbourne.
The world number one blew away second seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 , to become back-to-back champion in Melbourne.
Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic are the only men to have accomplished the feat at Melbourne Park since the turn of the century.
It is Sinner’s third major title, having previously won the US Open last year despite being plagued by controversy after twice testing positive for clostebol traces in March.
A World Anti-Doping Agency appeal against Sinner’s exoneration, which asks for an extradition to the United States, is still hanging over his head.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hold a hearing in April. He has denied knowingly doping.
“There’s been a lot of pressure around him for the last nine months now, since April last year”, said his coach Darren Cahill.
He handles pressure as well as anyone else I’ve ever seen do. He’s a fantastic young man who has managed to put that behind him.
” He has a clear conscience with what’s going on. That’s the main motivation for his ability to play on the court, walk tall, and have that belief.
Sinner initially appeared unprepared for a professional tennis career, having been born in the northern Italian village of Innichen, which is located a stone’s throw away from the Austrian border.
He won the ski championship when he was a child and still enjoys it in the off-season.
Sinner was also a keen footballer, playing for a local team as an attacker.
But he made the decision to play tennis and set off for Bordighera, Italy, at the age of 13, to begin his long march to the top levels of the game, moving 600 kilometers (400 miles) from his family.
 , Wise head
Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam in Melbourne last year, made an unwavering admission that he was a member of the elite after a constant grind.
He won eight titles, including the US Open and the ATP Finals, with an especially striking aspect of his extraordinary air of calm on the court.
He is quiet and reserved, and he avoids publicizing his personal life as much as possible, which underlines his close friendship with Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya.
Seen by some as too serious and even icy, the Italian has worked to soften his image in Melbourne, even laughing during some of his interviews, a side of him rarely seen before.
” He’s matured for sure, “said Cahill”. I believe there are many aspects to his actions both on and off the court.
“All these young kids, they are living a life that is great.
However, you must have a good head when dealing with the pressure of playing in front of 15, 000 people and exceeding expectations.
“You grow up fast. Jannik is one of those”.
Source: Channels TV
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