Jannik Sinner is one of the stars of the ATP 250 tournament in Umag. The talented Italian became number one in his country a few weeks ago and is one of the most anticipated men on the circuit, along with the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz. These two are the main favorites in the Umag tournament and in a few hours Jannik will take to the court against the Iberian Roberto Carballes Baena. Umag tournament director Tomislav Poljak spoke about Jannik to Supertennis and had words of praise for the world number ten. These are his words: “Jannik is really a golden guy, I work in his agency and he is one of the athletes I know the most on the circuit. He is a humble person, he asks a lot of questions and that is a sign of intelligence. Working with him is a privilege. Jannik Sinner is the prototype of the modern tennis player, he can do great things and I think he can win everything.” Not only Sinner because Italian tennis is experiencing a great moment, but also thanks to Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Berrettini, the other two Italian tennis tenors. Poljak continues: “Sinner, Berrettini and Musetti, together with Alcaraz, represent the future of the sport. They are showing a great personality and are willing to pick up the legacy of the Big Three and perhaps their goal is to advance this discipline throughout the world.” Here’s praise for the big three, namely Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and RafaelĀ Nadal. The Croatian tournament director explains: “The three of them have been an example for the sport and I think that if tennis has had this great impact we owe them a lot. Italian tennis is experiencing a great moment and in the Umag tournament we are also seeing why. The quarterfinals will be played today and four Italians will meet in Umag: Sinner, Cecchinato, Zeppieri and Agamenone.
Rafa Nadal won 22 Slams
Patrick Mouratoglou took to Instagram on Thursday to compare Alcaraz with 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal. “Rafael Nadal has some of the best return stats to tour. He has won more return games than anyone else, and holds the highest percentage at 33.5%,” Mouratoglou said, adding, “But one player is topping Rafa on return stats this season, Carlos Alcaraz. Did you know that the Spaniard wins 51.8% of his return games when he wins the first point of the game? To put this in perspective, the tour’s average on this data is 38.4%. Alcaraz also leads in return games won after the first two points with 77.8%, which is 5% more than Rafa. The tour average is 59.4%,” Mouratoglou stated.