His stubbornly defended normality despite the exceptional nature of his results fascinates not only Italian fans. It is the gaze of other sporting champions, in particular of individual disciplines, that tells us the effect of his story, his way of playing, what he reveals about himself. “What Sinner has changed is precisely the way of seeing individual sport in Italy. He is a sporting character to be admired” Simone Cerasuolo, a swimming champion who triumphed in the 50m breaststroke at the World Championships last summer and recently at the European Short Course Championships, told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Sinner’s approach cannot fail to impress Daniel Grassi, figure skater, second at the 2022 European Championships. From South Tyrol like Jannik, Grassi started out playing tennis before dedicating himself to artistic evolutions on the ice and becoming the first European to land a quadruple loop in an international competition. “We came close to each other a year ago at the ‘South Tyrolean of the Year’ ceremony. He was there, unfortunately I wasn’t because I had the European Championships – he said, again to the Gazzetta dello Sport – I try to take inspiration from his words. I like when he says to dare more, challenge yourself even if, sometimes, this means losing. But it’s the trick to becoming stronger”.
