Sinner with a grand gesture.

Sinner's compassion is met with thunderous applause

Jannik Sinner defeated the Japanese Taro Daniel comfortably on Saturday morning with 6:1, 6:4. The South Tyrolean not only received thunderous applause for his composed and superior style of play, but also for a beautiful gesture with which he finally won over the Asian audience to his side.

05 October 2024

From: do

With the score at 6:1, 1:1 ( Click here for the match report) and Daniel's serve, the Sextner had one of his nine break balls on his racket. The Japanese player's first serve landed outside the court and unfortunately hit a ball girl at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. The camera showed the young lady with a pained face, but the game continued and Daniel served for the second time. Sinner not only managed the break, but also showed a great deal of humanity.

Shortly after the ball hit by his opponent bounced out of bounds, the 23-year-old immediately turned around and approached the young ball girl. Concerned, he put his hand on her shoulder and asked if everything was OK. With a smile on her lips, the girl gave the OK sign and Sinner went to his bench for a break. The audience in the Chinese metropolis did not miss this gesture and the world number 1 was given thunderous applause.

If you look at Jannik Sinner's still young career, this type of incident is by no means a rarity. At the final of Indian Wells, for example, the South Tyrolean offered a ball girl a seat on his bench and held his umbrella over her head. Already in Madrid 2022, the future tennis star showed concern for the hard-working helpers on the court and made sure that a ball girl had not injured herself after a fall.

Next appearance on Sunday

In the next round in Shanghai on Sunday, Jannik Sinner will face Tomas Etcheverry (ATP 37) from Argentina, who defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 7:6(5), 3:6 and 7:5. Sinner clearly won the only duel so far, two years ago at the Australian Open, against Etcheverry.

A look into the future shows that on the way to the final in Shanghai, Daniil Medvedev could be waiting for the South Tyrolean in the quarterfinals and Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals if they all win their respective matches.