The man behind Sinner: “It will be exciting years”

By Thomas Debelyak from Ortisei

The country's newspapers can't get enough of Jannik Sinner at the moment, and his famous coach Riccardo Piatti is also often in the spotlight. Alex Vittur, on the other hand, prefers to stay in the background. The 35-year-old from Bruneck, who used to be a tennis professional himself and reached 605th place in the world rankings, is Sinner's manager and supervisor and is therefore always at the side of the exceptional talent - since the beginning of his professional career.

“In 2014, coach Heribert Mayr told me that I should take a look at Jannik Sinner. “He’s really got something,” recalls Vittur, who then played with Sinner for an hour in the Bruneck tennis hall and was immediately impressed by the youngster. “We’ve been working together ever since.”

The decisive step took place at the age of 14 Since that meeting, Vittur has been one of Sinner's most important contacts - even if the man from Bruneck doesn't like the word "manager". “Dear supervisor,” smiles the 35-year-old, who was a decisive factor in Sinner coming to Riccardo Piatti’s academy in the summer of 2015 at the tender age of 14. A step that was of great importance, after all Piatti - who also trained Novak Djokovic, among others - is considered the most successful Italian tennis coach of the moment.

Alex Vittur, manager of Jannik Sinner.

So Sinner left the Sesto mountains behind and made his home in the Ligurian holiday resort of Bordighera, where the rough diamond was polished over the last 5 years - and finally exploded this year. From position 551 to 96th – in just one year. “We knew that Jannik could play tennis very well, but we were surprised by this jump,” said Vittur.

While coach Piatti concentrates on tennis, Vittur has to take care of everything else. And that has become quite a lot after the meteoric rise. “The media hype is very high, as is the demand from sponsors. You can notice a huge difference there. There are exciting years ahead, that’s for sure,” explains the man from Bruneck. The money is reinvested in tennis Can this not go to the head of an 18-year-old boy like Sinner? After all, with his victory at the Next Gen Finals last week, he only collected 337.600 euros in one week. “Coach Riccardo Piatti has experienced similar careers with other players. I think he knows exactly what to expect and can prepare Jannik as well as possible,” explains Vittur, who also makes it clear: “The money will be reinvested in tennis. We want Jannik to be looked after by the best people. Starting with the trainer, the physiotherapist and the dry trainer.”

One thing is certain: Jannik Sinner's journey has only just begun. Where will he be in 5 years? “That,” says Vittur, “is difficult to answer. It's obvious that there is a certain talent, that he can have a certain career. It gives you something to think about when a player like Novak Djokovic says that Sinner will be the next star. We have to keep working, that's for sure. But I hope that Jannik fulfills his dream.” That of being number 1 in the world one day? “Yes, I hope so for him.”

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The man behind Sinner: “It will be exciting years”

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