My big Sinner gift

No worries. I'm not going to be sentimental about my age, although... I can certainly come out as a South Tyrol fan at this point and because you can now also do it abroad thanks to digital offerings Dolomites read or join stol.it and sportnews.bz If I can get information, I am always up to date and can handle later discussions with friends when I visit. As always, it's initially about political issues, which are of course dealt with fairly quickly. It's also a dangerous place because the positions are sometimes very different.

In contrast, sport is a grateful playing field in the battle of words. The rise of FC Südtirol was covered extensively and also poured in well. In winter a lot revolves around Dorothea Wierer and Dominik Paris. Every report, no matter how small, is then examined for its depth, with the question of Wierer's future in particular sparking an intensive exchange of ideas. That has now been clarified. The Sinner star has risen Of course, another long-running favorite is defining, because a new star has apparently risen in South Tyrol. Jannik Sinner outshines everything. I still remember August 2019 when it became clear to me for the first time that a new sports hero was casting a spell over South Tyrol. I still have this documented in my phone. The articles in the Dolomites I took photos at the time and passed them on to my colleagues Eurosport sent, with the note that a rocket might just be launching here. I wrote that you should stay tuned and I promised to find as much information as possible.

And lo and behold: Sinner was soon omnipresent. Hardly a day went by without some report about him. “Great, Sinner is in the US Open main draw”. That's how it stood up back then sportnews.bz . The man from Sexten defeated the Spaniard Mario Vilella in two sets in the third round of qualifying. Of course, I also passed this on to my tennis colleagues and over time became a Sinner specialist.

Audience favorite Jannik Sinner. © AFP / TIZIANA FABI

At that time I had not been working as a tennis commentator for a long time, although I had regularly followed the events surrounding the yellow felt ball in the first few years at Eurosport. I then had to choose between athletics and tennis because many appointments overlapped. And since athletics was particularly important for the Olympic Games, I gave up tennis with a heavy heart. Thanks to Sinner, interest in this was renewed again because I of course also had to be prepared for the discussions at the regulars' table when I visited South Tyrol. Everyone has become tennis experts It's nice that my expertise is in demand and my opinion is listened to. Probably because I'm the sports reporter in our group. However, everyone has long since become tennis experts. Sinner has replaced Seppi. He has caught up with him and overtaken him and when he plays, the televisions in the pubs and sports bars in South Tyrol are on a continuous loop, although the crossing of the fingers is a problem, after all you have to drink a small sip of the local wine every now and then. I met people who never watched tennis before. Now, at over 80, her daily routine suddenly depends on Sinner's missions.

Of course, a lot happened in the days after its discovery, if you can call it that. He has now found a new trainer and an incredible sponsorship deal, the enormous scope of which of course also fuels discussions. Last year I was able to comment on a few games again during the US Open and of course I noticed how incredibly dynamic this game has become. However, it is much easier to obtain information now than it was 30 years ago.

The Internet can also be a blessing and I can still stay up to date with what's going on during my absences from South Tyrol (I can't go on vacation all the time). Of course, my superiors know about my affinity for South Tyrol and have actually given me a really big gift. In the first few days I mainly commented on the games of the prodigies Coco Gauff (USA) and Emma Raducanu (GBR). That was really great. But the increase now is crazy. I was assigned to the Sinner game in the second round of the French Open against the Spaniard Roberto Caballés Baena. Detours to South Tyrol are always nice The result may already be known by the time this column has seen the light of day and will then be included sportnews.bz certainly at the top of current news. For me, this is a dream come true. I admit this bluntly. And that's not enough of the South Tyrol adventure. I will also comment on the Boulder World Cup from Brixen in mid-June, which will then be broadcast live on Eurosport. It's a good reason to visit your friends again to do some research. But I never actually need any reason to drive my car towards South Tyrol, which, by the way, almost finds its way to the Eisack on its own.

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My big Sinner gift

Sometimes life still has nice surprises in store, as our columnist Sigi Heinrich discovered. Read here what this has to do with Jannik Sinner.

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