Jannik Sinner perfecting his tennis recipe with ATP Finals glory in sight
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Jannik Sinner, 22, has a chance to cap the best season of his young career with what would be his biggest title to date.
PHOTO: AFP
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TURIN – Daniil Medvedev has predicted big things for Jannik Sinner after the Italian beat him 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 on Nov 18
The Russian world No. 3 believes that Sinner, 22, will win Grand Slams and top the world rankings if he keeps playing as he has in Turin.
“Right now he’s, let’s call it, riding a wave. You can see it,” said Medvedev, 27.
“If he plays like this, like he played in the last weeks, all the time, he’s going to have Slams, No. 1... The question is how often is he going to ride it. When he’s not on the wave, how good he plays.”
Backed by passionate home support, the world No. 4 has a chance to cap the best season of his young career with what would be his biggest title to date when he faced Novak Djokovic in the final on Nov 19.
He has long been the big hope for Italian tennis and has moved up a level this season, with four tour-level titles and his first win over Djokovic, on Nov 14 in the group stage at the Pala Alpitour.
And he has done this by perfecting his tennis recipe.
“It’s like the first time you cook pasta with tomato sauce, maybe it’s not that good. You realise that it needs more salt, so the next time you add it. Then you might start using fresh tomatoes, and then add in basil,” said Sinner.
“You learn things as you go along, until you get the dish right. That’s what I’m doing. But you have to be careful, you can’t just keep adding new things, because if you put in too many ingredients the dish won’t be good any more. There’s always a balance to be struck.”
Djokovic set up the final clash after the world No. 1
The Serb is hoping to put the cherry on top of a successful 2023 season with a record seventh ATP Finals title.
He has won the Australian Open, French Open and US Open to take his Grand Slam tally to 24 and overtake rival Rafael Nadal. He also surpassed Steffi Graf’s mark for the most weeks as world No. 1 with 378.
“I had an almost perfect season, Grand Slam season,” he said.
“Ended the year as No. 1 in the world, reached really all the objectives that I had, broke many records, made history of the sport. Of course, I’m thrilled...
“Hopefully, I can crown the season with another win.”
But he is wary of the ATP Finals’ “best player”.
Said Djokovic: “He has been the best player of the tournament so far.
“Won four out of four matches and played some great tennis. Obviously riding on the big wave of support of his Italian crowd here.
“He’s going for his first trophy. I’m going for my seventh... I’ve been in these situations before. Hopefully experience can help a bit.” AFP, REUTERS
