Jannik Sinner said Monday after
retaining the Australian Open to win his third grand slam title
and become Italy's most successful tennis player ever Sunday
that now he would rest for a while and then return to focusing
on tennis 100%.
"Now we have some free time.
Then, when we get back to work,
tennis will have 100% of our attention again," said the
23-year-old South Tyrolean world number on the sidelines of the
photo shoot with the Australian Open trophy in Melbourne.
"There are many important tournaments in which I have to be at
my best, but the balance between life off the court and work on
the court is fundamental".
Sinner, who beat Germany's world number two Alexander Zverev in
straight sets without dropping a break point to pass Nicola
Pietrangeli's record of two slams, pulled away at the top of the
ATP rankings, 3,700 points ahead of the German.
The final drew a record TV audience of 3.5 million as Sinner
mania again took hold of Italy.
Sinner, who has been dubbed Sinner the Winner, could go on to
win the Gran Slam this year, said Paolo Bertolucci, one of the
Four Musketeers who gave Italy their first David Cup in 1976
before Sinner and Co replicated the triumph last year.
"We have to enjoy it and understand how lucky we are to be able
to follow and cheer for him," pundit Bertolucci said on Rai
radio.
"Sinner is a phenomenon on the court and anyone can notice it,
but he is also a phenomenon off the court.
Every now and then,
when I see him, I touch him and say 'are you real or are you a
UFO?' ".
"It is no coincidence that Sinner is spoken of as Djokovic's
heir. Surely where he is closest to the Serbian phenomenon is in
his return of serve", added Bertolucci.
The former Azzurro also returned to the issue of a change of
coach: "I don't think Cahill will go back (on his announcement
that he is withdrawing as Sinner's coach at the end of the
season).
"Australians are very attached to their origins. At a certain
point they have to return home: it happened with Ashleigh Barty,
it happened with the motorcyclist Casey Stoner, they have this
sort of call of the wild. I've read some names as Cahill's
successors: Seppi would be wonderful: even if he has never
coached, they speak the same language. "Ivanisevic is also an
option, another former member of Djokovic's staff. I would
ignore Agassi, he's far away, he is in Las Vegas".
Asked if Sinner could do the Grand Slam, the first since Rod
Laver in a calendar year, Bertolucci said:
"It could be a year to bet on. Before, when Nadal was there,
Paris was a taboo for everyone, you had to think about the other
three tournaments and the Grand Slam was impossible.
"Now there is no Nadal anymore, there are good players like
Alcaraz and Zverev, but the others cannot think of worrying
Sinner.
"Generally speaking, apart from Alcaraz, I don't see a player
who can beat him on clay. Before some youngster can get to him,
it would be ideal to seize this moment where there are at most
one or two opponents of the same calibre."
Italy's premier sports daily trumpeted Sinner's win with a huge
front-page headline, "The Martian".
The world's sports press also hailed Sinner's triumph with
L'Equipe headlining "Untouchable", El Pais saying "today tennis
is in Sinner's hands" and AS saying he was "unplayable".
The Herald Tribune headlined "Sin-sensational" while the BBC
said "Sinner will become one of the strongest players we have
ever seen".
A few outlets, including The Times, mentioned the "dark cloud"
hanging over the Sinnerminator: the clostebol doping case for
which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is seeking a one-two
year ban.
Sinner said Monday he as unsure whether he would be able to
attend a reception at the presidential Quirinale Palace hosted
by President Sergio Mattarella to celebrate Italian tennis's
success last year including the Davis Cup.
"I don't know yet, I have to decide," he said on the sidelines
of the photoshoot at Albert Park Lane in Melbourne.
Speaking again about the balance of his season between private
life and tennis, he explained that "the balance off the court is
fundamental: it is better to take one more day off to be at the
top and competitive afterwards because there are so many
important tournaments".
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