Jannik Sinner’s love for tennis was greater

Jannik Sinner was born on August 16, 2001 in the hospital in Innichen. He grew up in Sexten, together with his adopted brother Mark, who was three years older, his father Hanspeter and his mother Siglinde. His parents worked in the catering industry and had to work a lot. His father was a cook, and a very good one at that. His mother was a waitress.

At the foot of the Three Peaks, 1244 metres above sea level, tennis is not the number one sport. There is also only one tennis hall, as the days of being able to play outdoors are numbered. In the Hochpustertal valley, children grow up with skis on their feet. Football is very popular. Jannik plays football, is a huge talent on skis, but his dad also introduces him to tennis.

The coaches remember His first teacher was Andreas Schönegger from Innichen. He gave Jannik his first racket when he was three and a half. "He always tried to hit me with the ball and then laughed." Then he played in his first mini tennis tournaments. "When he won for the first time in Welsberg, I had to tell him that he had to go to the net and shake hands with his opponent because he had won. Jannik couldn't count points back then. He was only 5," remembers Schönegger. “He always tried to hit me with the ball and then laughed.” Andreas Schönegger Sinner plays football and skis, but the yellow felt ball never completely lets go of him. His first ski coach is Elisabeth Egarter, then he puts himself in the care of Klaus Happacher, who came eighth in the 1978 World Cup downhill in Schladming and enjoyed cult status as a ski instructor for decades in the ski country of South Tyrol. Happacher says: "Jannik was extraordinary. When I trained with him on the Kreuzbergpass and explained something to him, he was able to implement it straight away. I have only seen this gift, this talent, in very few people before and since. Even as a little boy he was extremely focused."

Also a talented skier: Jannik Sinner

Andreas Schönegger also takes the same line: "Jannik was able to implement what he was told right away. When he showed up at the tennis tournaments in the summer, his opponents said: Now he's coming to play tennis too." With his long red hair, many people thought he was a girl. "But I said no, he's playing with the boys," Schönegger recalls in an interview with Dolomiten.

Then the legendary Heribert Mayr, who had already led the TC Bruneck to victory in the Baby Davis Cup in 1991 with Florian Allgäuer, the current pastry chef Andreas Acherer and Evelyn Moser, became aware of him. "Hebi" Mayr remembers: "I saw Jannik for the first time when he was 7 or 8. You could tell straight away that he was someone who had something more. I fixed a few things for him, changed his grip, he understood everything immediately and implemented it. His timing, his eye, you've never seen that in a child his age."

Seppi was Sinner’s role model Jannik's grandfather always took him to St. Georgen for training. At 7.30 a.m. he trained alone with Mayr. He had various sparring partners, the Mair sisters Julia and Evelyn, Egon Taschler, and ex-pro Andrea Spizzica played with Sinner. "In the fall of 2014 we went to the Challenger in Val Gardena, where Andreas Seppi won. I spoke to Massimo Sartori there and said I had a good, young player he should take a look at."

Jannik Sinner after his win at the Challenger in Val Gardena.

Former professional Alex Vittur, now his manager, had also already alerted Sartori to Sinner. Sartori looked at Sinner and made the connection to Riccardo Piatti. "Shortly before Christmas we got a call saying we should go to Bordighera. We were there for a weekend and also went to Monte Carlo, where Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic were already training for the Australian Open. Jannik took photos with both of them, then we went back home." “To make the breakthrough, he had to leave South Tyrol.” Roland Sandrin Roland Sandrin, club manager at TC St. Georgen and board member of the Italian Tennis Association, also recognized Sinner's talent: "When I saw Jannik for the first time, I knew straight away that he could become something, but to make the breakthrough, he would have to get away from South Tyrol."

Sinner stayed until the summer of 2015. He won two national championship titles with St. Georgen, but only managed second place in the U2 class in 14. Jannik was 2013 and lost the decisive match at TC Rungg against Manuel Bernard, who was two years older. "Maybe you should have tried to get more balls into the field," Sandrin dared to say on the drive home. Jannik had hardly spoken until Klausen: "No, I'll never just play the balls back. I want to be as good as Andreas Seppi." Another few minutes passed. "Maybe I should have put more pressure on. Because I want to be number 2 one day and win a Grand Slam tournament." That was in spring 12.

Rapid rise In the same year, Sinner won the 2nd league with St. Georgen, and a year later the D1 as well. "Everyone always liked him because of his character," remembers Sandrin. Then the time came to leave South Tyrol. "Jannik made the right decision at a difficult age. It certainly wasn't easy for him to leave home, to another country with a different language," referring to his move to Bordighera in the summer of 2015 to Riccardo Piatti's academy. "He'll definitely be back soon, because he can't speak Italian at all," says his father Hanspeter. But Jannik stayed in Liguria. For 7 years.

Massimo Sartori, Andreas Seppi's long-term coach, made contact with Piatti. He had a good relationship with the guru, who is still considered the best tennis coach in Italy. "What do we have to do to adopt him?" Piatti is said to have said after the first training session.

Jannik Sinner with his foster father Riccardo Piatti. © Felice Calabro'

On January 31, 2018, he received a wildcard at the ITF tournament in Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea, defeated Aryan Goveas from India (ATP number 756) 6:4, 6:4 and earned his first world ranking point. On February 12, 2018, the name Jannik Sinner appeared in the world rankings for the first time - at number 1592.

By the end of the year, he had moved up over 1000 places. South Tyrol also took notice of the Sextner for the first time. He qualified for the final at the 15.000 dollar tournament in St. Christina in August. In the middle of the tournament week, he turned 17 and his parents came to Val Gardena with a cake. The week before, he had made it into the main draw in Rungg after a long injury break. At the Challenger in Val Gardena in November, he made it past the first round. At this time, Sinner was usually accompanied to tournaments by Andrea Volpini, the coach from the Piatti Academy.

A career like a fairytale The international breakthrough came in 2019. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Sinner rose through the tennis sky, winning his first Challenger in Bergamo at the end of February, the $25.000 tournament in Trento the following week and, after 16 wins in total, a $25.000 tournament in Sardinia. Just a few weeks later, he made it into the main draw of an ATP tournament for the first time as a lucky loser, beating local hero Mate Valkusz on April 23, 2019 in Budapest as number 314 in the world.

Nevertheless, he had to go through the pre-qualification phase at the ATP Masters tournament in Rome. He defeated Lorenzo Musetti after fending off a match point, then lost to Andrea Basso and was given a wildcard by Andreas Seppi because the Caldaro native slipped into the main draw. Already at his first big appearance, he played his way into the hearts of the fans at the Foro Italico and fended off a match point in the 12:2019, 1:6, 6:1 defeat against Steve Johnson on May 7, 5.

The year continues in paradise. In August he wins the Challenger tournament in Lexington, at the US Open he survives the qualification for a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, losing in the first round to his stablemate Stan Wawrinka. In October he gets a wildcard for the main draw in Antwerp and reaches his first semi-final on the ATP Tour. The Next Gen Finals in Milan at the beginning of November are the preliminary highlight. Sinner wins the tournament and defeats Alex de Minaur in the final with 1:4, 2:4, 1:4.

The following week he came to South Tyrol for a tournament for the last time. In the snow-covered Val Gardena he won the Challenger tournament in the Runggaditsch tennis hall without losing a set. After the 6:2, 6:4 final against the Austrian Sebastian Ofner he reached the world class and ended the year in 78th place.

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Jannik Sinner’s love for tennis was greater

Numbers don't lie. Whoever has collected the most points on the ATP Tour within a year is the number 1 in the world. Since Monday, that number is Jannik Sinner, who is only 22 years old and comes from Sexten in South Tyrol.

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