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Jannik Sinner is very much the next big thing in tennis alongside other youngsters like Holger Rune and Carlos Alcaraz. In fact, because of his talents, as well as the other two players mentioned, I believe that the Next Gen takeover will occur in 2024. And as we recently witnessed, Jannik Sinner snapped up the first slam of the 2024 season in Melbourne.
This was also the first Grand Slam win of his entire career. So if there were any doubts about the abilities of Sinner, he put all of these to rest at the 2024 Australian Open. That said, his talents on the court are now well-documented, and tennis fans now unanimously agree that Sinner is one to watch for the future.
However, while we all know about his on-court triumphs, there is much more to learn about Jannik Sinner. Of course, that’s my exact goal today – to share some interesting facts about Jannik Sinner that most readers won’t be aware of.
By the time we are done today, I hope that you will feel like you know Jannik Sinner that much better than before. So, ready to learn more about the 2024 Australian Open champion? Let’s get started.
Jannik Sinner – 5 fun facts about the Italian sensation
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There are all kinds of interesting facts to learn about the top tennis players. And by educating ourselves on these guys, they suddenly feel more ‘human’, instead of just superstars that we watch on TV! Then again, if you explore topics like Novak Djokovic’s net worth, perhaps the description of ‘human’ seems less appropriate.
Of course, I say this in jest, but the idea of learning more about the ATP’s best players certainly brings these guys into a whole new spotlight. Additionally, since the top players come from all over the world, the backstory from one player to the next can be radically different. So, how does the backstory look for Jannik Sinner?
I’ve covered this in my 5 interesting facts about Sinner in the following sections. But in addition to a few facts about his life, I’ve implemented some facts about his success so far in the sport of tennis too.
Anyway, I’m excited to share some of the more unique facts about Jannik Sinner with you all today, so let’s shift gears now and run through them all.
He is the first male Italian tennis player to win a Grand Slam in close to 50 years
As I’ve referenced earlier, and as I’m sure you knew before you started reading this, Jannik Sinner won the 2024 Australian Open. This put an end to the reign of Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park, and it put Jannik Sinner on the Grand Slam title ladder. However, there is something particularly special about his success in Melbourne that has escaped mainstream attention.
Amazingly, in winning the 2024 Australian Open, Jannik Sinner became the first male tennis player from Italy to win a Grand Slam in almost five decades. The last male Italian player to win a Grand Slam prior to this was Adriano Panatta, who won the 1976 French Open.
Naturally, this has secured Jannik Sinner’s place in the history books – even if he didn’t win another Grand Slam for the rest of his career (which I doubt will be the case). To add to that, given that many Italian players learn the game of tennis on clay, it’s rather funny that this streak has ended at a tournament played on hard courts.
Yet, if Jannik Sinner maintains or improves this level of tennis moving forward, it’s impossible to deny that he has a chance to win the French Open in the coming years.
He was a top-level skier as a child
For those who aren’t too familiar with the background of Jannik Sinner, he grew up in the North of Italy. Since he grew up close to the mountains, he adopted a keen love for skiing, with the family regularly enjoying trips into the surrounding Dolomite Mountains. Of course, this influence led to Jannik Sinner exploring his skiing talents in his early years.
As it happens, the Italian was rather good on the slopes too. To be more specific, he won a national skiing competition at just 8 years old. So clearly, he wasn’t just a skiing enthusiast. In fact, at the time, he was a bit of a skiing protege.
There are even photos of Sinner skiing with the famous American skier, Lindsey Vonn. This shows that he wasn’t just an average skier, and as one could imagine, his sporting life could have moved in an entirely different direction.
Fortunately for tennis fans, Jannik Sinner also explored his skills with a tennis racket as a youngster. Fast forward to 13 years of age, Sinner then decided to move in order to concentrate on tennis, leaving the competitive ski slopes behind.
That said, Jannik Sinner still enjoys skiing, and he is rumoured to hit the slopes during the off-season.
His idol is Roger Federer
Perhaps now that Roger Federer has retired, Jannik Sinner will reconsider who his idol in professional tennis is. Then again, even in retirement, one can always aim to replicate the smoothness and insane shot-making produced by the great Roger Federer.
I’m sure that Jannik Sinner would sign the dotted line to guarantee a career as great as Federer’s right now. Of course, he’s now on track following a first Grand Slam title. However, he still has 19 Grand Slam titles to go if he is to match what Federer achieved in the sport.
Anyway, coming back to Sinner’s love for Federer, according to reports, Sinner always wanted to play like Roger. He was reportedly mesmerized by Federer’s shot-making and creativeness on the court, and he has certainly matched the Swiss legend in one department – composure.
No matter what is happening on the court, Jannik Sinner never seems to lose his cool, a bit like Roger Federer in his prime. Then again, Sinner clearly opted for a two-handed rather than a one-handed backhand, and I wouldn’t say that he has modelled his technique on Federer.
He is a huge fan of fashion
As an Italian, Jannik Sinner is from the home of high-end fashion. Of course, there are plenty of prestigious Italian fashion brands. And these brands aren’t just prestigious – they are expensive!
Take brands such as Gucci, Versace, and Prada as prime examples. These brands are highly sought after by celebrities, athletes, and other people who have more money than they know what to do with. To that end, it seems like Jannik Sinner has also caught the fashion bug, as he has established a partnership with Gucci in recent years.
In fact, Sinner made history at Wimbledon in 2023 when he came onto the court sporting a Gucci duffle bag. This was actually the first time in the tournament’s history that a professional player brought all of his on-court necessities in a fashion bag. And to be clear, this stretches to cover his rackets too!
Naturally, many tennis fans viewed this as a bit of a statement, and Sinner actually received a few jokes from his colleagues about his high-class image. Even guys like Carlos Alcaraz joked with Sinner, asking the Italian if he could ‘hook him up’ with one of his Wimbledon bags.
I have a sneaky feeling that if his career continues on its current trajectory, he will sign some more endorsements with high-end brands too. As to whether these will be luxury Italian brands or not, that remains to be seen.
He has his very own fan club known as the Carota Boys
For me, this is the funniest fact of them all. I say this because there aren’t many professional tennis players who can confirm that they have their own official fan club. This is true for guys who have been on tour for well over 10 years, too.
So, when you consider that Jannik Sinner is just 22 years of age, at the time of writing, this is even more impressive. However, the backstory behind the formation of Jannik Sinner’s fan club is even more amusing. Depending on who you listen to, the formation of the Carota Boys dates back to Sinner’s appearance at a tournament in Vienna a few years ago.
In that particular event, Jannik Sinner decided to eat a carrot at the change of ends during a match, which was most unusual. Then again, other fans claim that the Carota Boys landed on this theme because of the colour of Jannik Sinner’s hair.
With that in mind, it doesn’t really matter how the Carota Boys came about. Whatever the motivation was for creating the six-man group, we can all agree that they bring some serious excitement and good vibes to Sinner’s matches.
Incredibly, they seem to follow Jannik Sinner all over the globe too, which must give the young Italian a boost when he steps onto the court. And who knows, maybe the Carota Boys fan club will need to expand if he wins more majors.
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