Sinner isn't after records—but he collects them

Here's what it's all about

• Jannik Sinner became only the tenth player in the past six decades to defend his Wimbledon title, thereby reaffirming his status as the world No. 1.
• The Italian has won all the Masters 1000 tournaments in a short period of time and has now won five Grand Slam titles.
• For Sinner, breaking records isn't the main focus; rather, it's his own personal development and the joy of playing tennis.

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After his hard-fought victory over Alexander Zverev in the final, an unusually emotional Jannik Sinner spoke late Sunday evening. “It’s not a failure if you don’t win a Grand Slam tournament,” the 24-year-old Italian emphasized. “It would have been a very, very good day today even if I had lost.” But it’s a sign of the status Sinner has now achieved that his success is measured only by the very highest standards.

Zverev unterliegt Sinner erneut

«Jannik, ich mag dich nicht mehr»

He has won five of the biggest tournaments on the ATP Tour this year. But he didn’t have much success at the Grand Slams. At the Australian Open, he lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, who played “incredible tennis,” as Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill points out. His heat-related collapse in the second round of the French Open—notably one game away from what seemed like a sure victory—certainly gave him more to think about. Afterward, Sinner, Cahill, and second coach Simone Vagnozzi worked intensively to make the mountain boy from South Tyrol—with his red hair and fair skin—more heat-resistant. “This is a process that takes time,” Sinner emphasizes. At Wimbledon, where it was unusually hot for two weeks, the long training sessions in Monaco began to bear their first fruits.

Only Nadal's record is out of reach

Within three years, Sinner has won all the Masters 1000 tournaments—a feat previously achieved only by Djokovic. It took the Serbian twelve years to do so, however, and he had to wait until he was 31. At the Grand Slam level, the Italian now has five titles—two fewer than his rival Carlos Alcaraz, who is just under two years younger and missed Paris and Wimbledon due to injury. Adriano Panatta, the last Italian Grand Slam champion before Sinner (French Open 1976), believes his compatriot is capable of anything—even matching Djokovic’s 24 major titles. With one exception: “The only record that is very difficult—or even impossible—to beat is Nadal’s fourteen French Open titles,” said Panatta.

But as Sinner himself says, the records mean nothing to him. “I don’t play tennis for the records,” he emphasizes time and again. “I play to keep getting better, to have fun, and to write my own story—for the fans, for my team, and for my family.” At Wimbledon, he joined an illustrious list of players who have triumphed twice in a row since professionals were first allowed to compete 58 years ago. Before him, only Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Djokovic, and Alcaraz had achieved this feat.

Learn something from every situation

It is this inner drive that Darren Cahill also emphasizes. “He has a unique talent that no coach can teach him—an inner strength that drives him to want to learn from every situation, whether he wins or loses.” Cahill should know. The Australian, who won the first of his two ATP titles as a player 38 years ago in Gstaad with a final victory over Zurich’s Jakob Hlasek, made a name for himself as a coach of Grand Slam champions such as Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Ana Ivanovic, and Simona Halep.

Sinner and Alcaraz have won ten of the last eleven Grand Slam tournaments between them. Hardly any player could have withstood the onslaught of Alexander Zverev, who played better in the Wimbledon final than he ever has before. Sinner, however, showed why he is rightfully the world No. 1. More records are likely to follow, whether he’s aiming for them or not.