Jannik Sinner was proud. The 23-year-old had become the first Italian to win three grand slam singles titles, defending his Australian Open crown with a ruthless and dominant straight-sets win over Alexander Zverev. His beaten opponent revealed the difference between the world’s No 1 and No 2 at a hard-court grand slam. “He is in a different universe,” Zverev said. For Sinner, a third grand slam title in a row on the surface and a continuation of his winning run put him among all-time legends of the game. Sinner’s achievements over the past 12 months have placed him on a path to greatness.
But Sinner remarked that he took pride in another aspect of his Melbourne defence. For the second grand slam in a row, Sinner was a level above his rivals, exuding calm and composure, while playing with the stress and uncertainty of a potentially career-altering court date approaching on the horizon. In April, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) after Sinner was cleared of blame following two positive doping tests for an anabolic steroid last March.
If Sinner can appear unstoppable on the court, the world No 1’s biggest opponent on the road to further records looks to be the CAS hearing, the date of which was announced on the eve of the Australian Open. It brought similarities to the US Open last August, the first major tournament he played after his positive doping tests came to light and after the International Tennis Integrity Authority announced he had been cleared of blame. For all of the uncertainty around Sinner’s case, the 23-year-old has again found a way to put whatever is going on in the background behind him.
“I’m very proud,” he said of his resolve. “It’s actually tough to describe. Many, many things happen off the court, [some things] you maybe don’t know. When I go on the court, even if sometimes it’s very difficult to block these kinds of things, I have a team and people who are close to me who trust me. That for me is even more important because I can talk very openly with them. That’s it. Of course, it’s still a little bit in the back of your mind. [But] I know that I’m in this position now. So nothing I can change.”
Sinner has dealt with the scrutiny impressively. He has not risen to those who publicly doubt his explanation of “inadvertent contamination”, or used the uncertainty around the upcoming hearing as motivation. Instead, his coach Darren Cahill said Sinner has found his “safe space” on the tennis court. His consistency comes from his focus. “As I always say, I keep playing like this because I have a clear mind on what happened,” Sinner said. “If I was guilty, I would not play like this.”
Outside of the CAS dates, the next challenge for Sinner will be to prove he is the complete player and compete for grand slam titles on the other surfaces. His record on the hard courts is undeniable and he is the first men’s player in 50 years to win 22 consecutive sets against top-10 players, all of which have come on the surface. Sinner is the fifth player in the Open era to win three consecutive hard-court slams, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.
But Sinner has just one French Open semi-final and one Wimbledon semi-final. His young rival Carlos Alcaraz proved last year that he is the dominant player across clay and grass. “You have to be a complete player, not only one surface, but on also the other two,” Sinner said, recognising that Djokovic, Federer, Rafael Nadal and now Alcaraz have conquered all three. “For sure, we are aiming to get into this rhythm because it’s a bit different. Especially on grass because it’s a bit different, the movement. I still have to improve but I’m going to put a lot of energy into that.”
His Italian coach, Simone Vagnozzi, agreed that Sinner had to assert his authority on the other surfaces to be recognised as a true world No 1. “For sure, his natural surface is hard court. Last year he play semis in Paris and quarter in Wimbledon. The year before, semis. Clay is a little bit more difficult. But he can play good there, I think, and he can also try to win Roland Garros. I think Wimbledon last year, he was a little bit unlucky because he was not 100 per cent, otherwise, we had a small chances to win there in Wimbledon.”
The CAS hearing may stand in the way. If Sinner is banned for the summer, his aspirations of competing at Roland Garros and Wimbledon may have to wait. Perhaps Sinner did not face enough danger in the Australian Open final for his victory over Zverev to be remembered in time. But elsewhere, uncertainty and jeopardy await the world No 1, whose biggest opponent on the road to future records and grand slam titles is now a court date in April.
