Jannik Sinner makes telling No 1 confession as his coach reveals what he told him after French Open
Jannik Sinner admits he feels the heat of being the man to beat on the ATP Tour as his enduring reign as world No 1 continues.
Sinner’s defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in an epic French Open final did not impact his dominant lead at the top of the world rankings and he will head into Wimbledon as the top seed.
Now he has told the ATP Tour website that the pressure of leading the men’s game is on his mind, with the eagerness of every other player to beat him adding to the pressure he feels on court.
Sinner has now been world No 1 for 54 weeks in his first stint at the top of the ranking and that puts him a week ahead of Novak Djokovic, who was world No 1 for 53 weeks in his first spell at the top of the rankings.
“It’s a huge honour for me, to be part of these names,” Sinner said as he reflected on his long reign as world No 1.
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“On the other hand, I’m myself. I make my history for myself. Of course, it’s amazing company I am part of and as I always said, I would never have thought I would be in this position once in my life.
“It’s amazing now that I am there, and I know my potential and know that I can do it if I’m playing very well. Things have changed, that’s for sure, but it’s amazing to be part of these names.
“I don’t look at the rankings so much myself, because I feel like World No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 is the result of what you work on, on a yearly basis,” explained the Italian. “You have to be very consistent, and my results have been amazing since last year until now, so we will try to push in that direction as long as we can.
“On the other hand, the most important thing for me is to improve as a player. I think I made some good progress since last year. I feel like I’m a better player, which for me is the most important. Of course, the result matters, but it’s quite relevant for me. I do enjoy being in this position.”
“Obviously things have changed since last year a little bit. The feeling is definitely different, being No. 1, because everyone wants to beat you and there are still a lot of players who still have that feeling. I think the position in the rankings is something someone works a lot to be in, and I’ve always tried to be the best I could.”
Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill has given his verdict on the Italian he has worked with during his three Grand Slam wins over the last 18 months, as he looked back on the five-set defeat against Alcaraz in Paris.
“We barely said anything, to be perfectly honest, after the match, there was disappointment, he sat and locked the room for 15 or 20 minutes,” Cahill told the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
“Each one of us from his team came up and gave him a hug. And we told him we were really proud of him, proud of his effort.
“But that’s not the perfect time to give him a speech about what we can learn from it, we’re going to move on from it. You have to show a little bit of empathy for what he’s going through. Sadness, a few tears, a few tears for everybody.
“But I’ve got to say, later that night, a few hours later, he wasn’t over. He’s never going to be over it.
“I think a match like that stays with you forever, and you try to become better for it, but he has great perspective as to the importance of playing a tennis match, compared to real life, and there’s much more important things going on, and certainly in his life, there’s going to be much more important things than winning or losing a tennis match.
“And I think that’s where the self-awareness comes full on. It’s that, yes, it was disappointing, but it’s just sports. It’s just a tennis match. Go out there and have as much fun as you can and go next time and can turn us around and we’ll try to get better from this.”
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