(Indian Wells) The Italian Jannik Sinner, winner of the Australian Open in January and still undefeated in 2024, had “never dreamed of becoming so good”, he said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells (California, United States).
Sinner, aged 22, is one of the big favorites for the tournament, having won 12 matches out of 12 in 2024, for two titles at the Australian Open, his first Grand Slam, then in Rotterdam in February.
“I hope to be able to show good tennis here in Indian Wells,” he said at a press conference before entering the tournament directly in the second round on Friday against the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
“I never dreamed of becoming this good, it was something incredible. I come from a normal family, where we mostly practice winter sports. I’m just trying to get better,” he explained.
“Two or three years ago I didn’t know it, but I now know that I can produce good tennis and play against the best in the world […] I think I still have so much to improve on. It’s a path, I try to get 100% out of everything. I can improve physically, mentally, on the pitch. »
The Italian from South Tyrol (northern Italy), a former alpine skiing hopeful, detailed the complementarity of his two coaches, his compatriot Simone Vagnozzi and the former Australian player Darren Cahill.
“The combination of the two makes my team very good. They are very different. Simone deals more with the technical and tactical part. Darren is the mental part, how to stay calm during a match, how to behave off the court to lose as little energy as possible. It gives me great motivation. »
“The Australian Open was a special, positive moment, but then you have to start again, get up in the morning and go back to work,” he added.