After the elimination at the 2023 US Open against German ace Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, Jannik Sinner was very disappointed and had given up on the Davis Cup’s matchesĀ generating several controversies in Italy. This choice proved to be correct, since the rise of the Italian champion began after a short time.
Jannikās level has risen since the second half of last year, when he won the tournaments in Beijing and Vienna (as well as reaching the final at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin). The 23-year-old from San Candido has dragged his country to triumph in the Davis Cup, cancelling three consecutive match points for 24-time Grand Slam championĀ Novak Djokovic and achieving an epic feat.
Jannik Sinner, US Open 2024Ā© Stream screenshot
Sinnerās leap of quality continued in 2024, when he proved himself to be the best player in the world alongside SpaniardĀ Carlos Alcaraz. The young Italian has won five titles this year – including the 2024 Australian Open at the beginning of the year and two Masters 1000 (Miami and Cincinnati) – and has become the new world number 1.
The 2024 Australian Open champion suffered some physical problems during the summer and ended up in the middle of a delicate doping case, but he reacted like a real champion by winning the Cincinnati Masters 1000 and reaching the semi-finals at the US Open. After defeating RussianĀ Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, Jannik is a favourite to lift the trophy on Sunday.
An impressive rise
Sinner will face British ace Jack Draper on Friday for a place in the final. The latter is perhaps playing the best tennis of his young career and has not yet lost a set in New York, but will need a huge feat against the world number 1. In the quarterfinals, the Italian ace beat one of the tournament favorites, Daniil Medvedev, in four sets on the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium. Friday night will have the chance to play for the final, but to do it must beat Jack Draper, who is so well behaved in New York.
Jannik SinnerĀ© @TheTennisLetter X account
For the Italian tennis player it is the fourth semi-final in a Slam. One played per tournament. The first at Wimbledon last year. The second, at the Australian Open in January, turned into his first major win. In June, Jannik was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the French Open.
In addition to the one reached by Sinner at Flushing Meadows, there were other 24 Italian semi-finals in the Grand Slam tournaments, of which 16, counting both the pre-Era-Open period and the Era Open period, held on the Parisian red clay . Of the 16 semi-finals at Roland Garros, 10 date back to the pre-Era Open period. Nicola Pietrangeli is the first player with four semi-finals in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1964. The two-time champion in Paris, if we take into account the other Slam, is leading at 5.
Behind him are Sinner, now four, at one length, former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and Adriano Panatta with three participations in a semi-final Slam. If in the case of Matteo, his appearances are distributed on three different tournaments (Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Us Open), a different speech for the former Roman tennis player, who played them all in Paris. At 2 follows Corrado Barazzutti, historical captain of the Davis Cup from 2001 to 2020.
Italy is proud
The Italian tennis movement continues to amaze and to collect extremely positive results in the major circuits ATP and WTA. And the president of FITP Angelo Binaghi is back to praise the goals that are being achieved in recent months and all players: “We are the leading nation in menās tennis but we have to work harder than before for our cycle is a medium-long term. The fact that there are no superpowers at this time is a point in our favor. We must believe and work even more than before. We must fight and try to win, on and off the court” are the words released in an interview with SuperTennis microphones.
Jannik SinnerĀ© @TheTennisLetter X account
After becoming the number one in the world, Sinner wrote a letter to the entire team of the federation: “Your daily commitment to sport and to support young athletes like me has paved the way for this incredible success” is read in one of the passages of the message, which was particularly praised by Binaghi. “It left me speechless because a player who arrives number 1 in the world at 23 years of age maybe does not have time to think about dividing the merits that are basically his with other entities, to identify them so clearly and write a letter”. If it continues like this, Jannik can truly become one of the best ever.