“A future top 10, and not in 15 years” … Jannik Sinner, soon the new terror of the circuit?

From our special correspondent at Roland-Garros,

Before, when we heard about an Italian player in the spans of Roland, we always expected to be told the latest from Fabio Fognini. A shouting match with a referee, perhaps; an insult issued by itself towards an adversary, surely; a post-defeat statement that no one wanted to hear, eventually. But this year, everything is going crazy. The good Fabio, operated on both ankles in June, only made an express visit to Paris, giving way to a very young compatriot who is no doubt less fun but with no less exciting profile: Jannik Sinner.

Unknown to the general public at the start of the fortnight, Sinner, 19, pulled out the bulldozer to clear his way to the quarter-finals. Goffin (still 13th in the world), Bonzi and Coria found themselves in the ditch after three small sets. Zverev, seeded number 6, barely resisted in the round of 16 on Sunday. This victory against the German allowed him to join some big names in the history books of the Paris tournament: he is the youngest player to reach the quarterfinals since Djokovic in 2006, and the first to do so for his first participation. since Nadal in 2005. Small wink, it is the owner of the places who awaits him there, Tuesday.

“A player who has impressed me for two years already”

“Am I surprised? Yes, a little, of course, admitted the Italian on Sunday. But I’m not really interested in this type of record. What matters is playing well, trying to win every game. “From the Italian succession, we already knew Matteo Berrettini, 24 years old and world number 8. Even if he got through this tournament by getting knocked out by the astonishing German qualifier Altmaier in the 3rd round, he is the spearhead of Italian tennis, who (with Martina Trevisan in the women) has not been so dashing in ages. And who maybe found a new one champion.

If he was not necessarily expected there so early, Sinner does not fall from the sky either. Already 75th in the world – after a jump of nearly 500 places over the past 12 months – he was named “revelation of the year” by ATP in 2019. “He’s a player who has impressed me for two years now. , indicates Lionel Zimbler, the coach of Benjamin Bonzi, dispatched to the second round. Seeing him there is no surprise, I saw him make very big matches in the challengers tournaments or more recently in Rome. I told myself that something would happen with him. It’s a future top 10, and not in 15 years. I see that quickly, if nothing happens to him. “

Thank you so much to my fellow players for picking me ✌️ It’s an honor! @atptour #newcomeroftheyear @PiattiTennis @RPiatti https://t.co/z0wRX2FseW

– Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) December 20, 2019

The Marseille coach paints a flattering portrait: “He plays well on all surfaces. He is a very complete player, who is evolving very well every year. He still has a good margin of progress, especially in service and in his movements forward. But tactically, it’s already well in place, with a variety of very interesting moves. It returns very very well. He has progressed mentally this year, I think. He has talent, instinct, and something that not all players have: that strength in being aggressive. He creates play, but to make it fail, you have to send. “

So much for the technical sheet. Not to spoil anything, Sinner is a real curiosity. By what we see of him, already. With his abundant red hair and his ice temper, he forces the box of clichés on the Italian player to be put away, which Fognini, among others, had well filled. “Knowing how to stay calm” is also his greatest quality, according to him. “There is no cinema, no frills, but it’s not flat either,” says Zimbler. I do not find that it does not release anything, far from it. “

Tennis instead of skiing

His career is original, too. Born in the Italian Tyrol, a border region with Switzerland and Austria, he was a very good skier when he was young, and did not really take up tennis until the age of 13. “Skiing lasts a minute and a half, the time of the race and that’s it. It’s way too short for me, he explained to the World. I love to play and see the opponent. In tennis, you know if he’s frustrated or happy … I find that funnier. “

Riccardo Piatti, a reference in coaching in Italy, has been taking care of him since his inception. Thanks to the former Ljubicic and Djokovic coach, his rise has been dazzling. Six years after putting the skis away, here he is at the gates of the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament. The walk to climb it will be very high in front of Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard is wary all the same, he who was able to see some scraps of Sinner’s talent while training with him last week. “He has a lot of potential. He’s young and improving, week after week, he says. It won’t be an easy game. He handles his racquet very quickly and hits extraordinary shots. Zimbler sees the Italian “really annoying” his Majesty, all the same. “I don’t have the impression that the kid is on a diet at all,” he said. But it also depends on the conditions, very specific this year. “

Whatever happens, Jannik Sinner will have a new status to assume when he leaves Paris. That of new potential terror of the circuit. “He will be present at the highest level in the years to come, there is not much doubt about it,” Justine Hénin told RTBF on Sunday. “We will have to see how he manages all this, how his ego and his humility evolve in the weeks to come,” notes Lionel Zimbler. We may have been badly accustomed, but here we are not too worried.