Sigi's tips | Törggelen with Jannik Sinner

Sigi Heinrich, TV commentator from Germany and South Tyrol lover.

It's very lucky if you have good friends. Best friends who are not stingy with their knowledge. Know and reveal the places where you can quietly and pleasantly indulge in the South Tyrolean autumn custom of Törggelen. I will only reveal this much: from up there you can logically look down into the valley, see the asphalt snake of the motorway and sit in a house whose foundation stone was laid in the 16th century.

It's like a stronghold with a cozy atmosphere. Thick walls surround us like a cocoon. We get a place in the attached Salettl. It's a little brighter here, says the sprightly host, whose 78 years really don't show. A surrounding bench offers comfortable space and enough space for four people. There are two copies of the “Dolomites” on the table, a Teroldego (an indigenous type of red wine that is mainly grown in Trentino) comes fresh from the cellar in a stone jug and the small starter with strong, thinly sliced bacon and Schüttelbrot whets the appetite for the typical dishes at Törggelen such as slaughter platter, barley soup, house sausage and of course chestnuts. Surprising answers There is also no shortage of topics for heated discussions. The most recent local council elections with their runoff elections in Bolzano and Meran are dissected again. There is also a pinch of Donald Trump, which is unavoidable, and the possible impending mask requirement also gives rise to different opinions. As it should be. And then of course the sporting events. I'll ask how things are going with our host and Jannik Sinner. Does he know him? And so for me I'm like, probably not. At that age he won't be interested in the boy from Sexten.

Sinner had to admit defeat against Rafa Nadal on Tuesday. © AFP / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT

The surprise couldn't have been bigger. “I’ve seen every game of his so far.” And he would also watch the match against Nadal on Tuesday evening. So he knows that too. Craziness. I want to know whether he was always interested in tennis because I'm pretty amazed at his reaction. “No,” he says. “Only since Sinner.” And then suddenly everyone at the table is a tennis fan. His forehand is “merciless”. Athletically, well, he could still improve. But his nerves. Crazy about age. If everyone weren't sitting, they would bow. Big names and a lot of pride And then, as if at the push of a button, it starts: the gallery of great winners and well-known athletes, to which Sinner apparently already belongs, comes to life. It starts with Gustav Thöni and Dominik Paris. And I can feel the pride that resonates in the voices of my friends that such great athletes continue to emerge from small South Tyrol. Armin Zöggeler, Carolina Kostner, Klaus Dibiasi, Tania Cagnotto, Michael “Much” Mair, Erwin Stricker, Carlo Senoner, the Mölgg siblings, Dorothea Wierer. The waterfall of names never seems to run dry. I remember the 1992 Olympic champion in the Alpine combined, Josef Polig, who has almost been forgotten.

And finally we come back to tennis and, to be fair (that's how I see it) to Andreas Seppi from Kaltern, who unfortunately never managed to trigger such hype as is now the case with his successor Jannik Sinner. Seppi has reached the round of 18 at least once on every surface in Grand Slam tournaments and was once number 19 in the world. Sinner is still not that far along. And yet the tennis world is at the youngster's feet, although this is of course also due to the massive media presence that the XNUMX-year-old is receiving these days, which was not nearly as intense in Seppi's best times.

As for the tirtels (I love them with spinach), we're still on the upcoming match against Nadal and there's a clear consensus. We are looking forward to the next games with Jannik Sinner, who has the invaluable advantage of not being a seasonal athlete. This will keep his already huge popularity simmering all year round. And always give us material for discussions. Even after Törggelen.

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Sigi's tips | Törggelen with Jannik Sinner

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