Jannik Sinner may have been away from his family this fortnight at the Miami Open presented by Itau, but the Italian continues to make his parents proud. Asked about the significance of his first Miami title and his rise to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the 22-year-old was quick to put his accomplishments into perspective.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I never thought [I would] come to this point,” he said after a 6-3, 6-1 final victory against Grigor Dimitrov. “I come from a very normal family. My dad is still working, and my mom, too. For me, sport is one thing, and life is different.
“I’m very happy to be in this position. I’m just enjoying every moment. These are special days winning a tournament. Doesn’t matter what kind of tournament, it’s a special day. It means a lot to me.”
Just as his parents continue to work, Sinner is also eager to put in more hard yards even after his red-hot run of success. In discussing the importance of his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto last year, he explained his ability to enjoy such milestone moments while still looking forward.
“When you win, you realise that it’s really special, like this [Miami title],” he said. “But it’s a moment. You live this moment, and then you’re happy and then you fly to Cincinnati and the day after you play again.
“So there is not so much time to enjoy this. That’s what I feel like that I have improved a lot. After [winning the title in] Australia, I live these moments, three or four days, and then after, I get back to work. It was the same in Rotterdam and it’s the same here, because you don’t have to time to enjoy.
“So this is also how I am, because maybe there are players who enjoy a little bit for longer. Me, I know that I don’t have so much time to prepare for Monaco, so this is now obviously the next goal, trying to get confident with the clay.”
Sinner plans to be back on the practice court on Thursday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. While he does not expect his parents to start joining him in his world travels on the ATP Tour, they may pay him a visit in Monaco, a short trip from their home nation of Italy.
“They will continue to do their life, and then I do my life,” Sinner said with a smile. “For sure, my dad… in Indian Wells he came. There are, like, three, four tournaments where they could arrive. Monaco they might arrive. Rome and Vienna and the end of the year hopefully in Turin [at the Nitto ATP Finals] if I play. And that’s it.
“They won’t travel much, at least until now. I know them, so I also have my grandma and grandpa, which they have a certain age now [so my parents] want to stay close. We have the family at that home. They live in a beautiful place, so they have a good life there.
“For sure I miss personally a little bit the time with my parents, because I left home when I was 13, 14. So I haven’t had so much time with them. Hopefully I can make this up in the future, but for me it’s more important if they are happy. I know I’m happy. If I’m happy, they’re happy. It’s all good.”
Sinner’s coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, are also happy. Following their charge’s Miami triumph, Cahill told the media that he still sees plenty of room for growth in the Italian. Ominously for the rest of the ATP Tour, Sinner agrees.
“I have a great team behind me who pushes me. We know what we have to improve,” he said. “Now the clay season is coming, so usually I struggle there. Let’s see what I can do this year.”
Credit: ATP Tour
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