Jannik Sinner: ‘The most important goal is to improve’

Sinner actually grew up in the small village of Sesto, a ski resort town of less than 2,000 that helped foster his early love of downhill skiing, which he evetually became a junior champion in.

Last month, he was feted there in glittering ceremony that doubled as a celebration of his Australian Open victory and achieveing the world No.1 ranking, making him the first Italian player to do so in singles.

Some 500 children looked on in awe during Sinner’s ceremony, where he displayed not only his newly earned world No.1 trophy, but also the Davis Cup, which he had led Italy to at the end of 2023… a first for the nation since 1976.

“The most important goal is always to improve as a player and as a person, surrounding myself with great people,” Sinner said via the ATP when he reached No.1. “I think I can be very happy and pleased with what I am doing [with] my team.”

That team has been key for Sinner as he has levelled up over the past couple of years, having honed his game with the legendary Riccardo Piazzi since the age of 13. In early 2022, he switched to a relatively unknown coach in Simone Vagnozzi, while adding on the well-respective Darren Cahill, who has coached many top players in the past, too.

Their extended team includes a collection of trainers and PTs, and Sinner, still just 22, has bought into a long-term plan: They want to achieve sustained greatness, year after year.

“I’m extremely happy that I am in this position now,” Sinner said in Melbourne after claiming his first major. “I have a great team behind me who knows what I have to do. With Darren, he has a lot of experience. He has been through this already a number of times. Simone, we were talking already after the [final vs. Medvedev] about what we can improve still.”