US Open: How Jannik Sinner proved doubters wrong

It’s turning out to be Jannik Sinner’s year by all means. After he bookended a grand slam season with a breakthrough triumph at the Australian Open, and by becoming the first Italian to win the US Open on Sunday, the somewhat reticent world no. 1’s record on tour this year is 55-5 overall, with a 35-2 record on hard courts.

A record which the likes of a Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer would have been proud of at their best — and there’s no doubt that the 23-year-old with a mature head on his shoulders has proved to be virtually unbeatable on the hard courts which offer a true bounce. It was, actually, off-court problems which bothered him more in the run-in to the tournament when it was revealed that Sinner had tested positive for a small percentage of banned anabolic agent closbetol earlier this year but escaped sanctions.

Sinner’s argument was that the drug entered his system when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided him with massage and sports therapy. He summarily fired his physio and trainer for all the embarrassment they may have caused the player’s brand value but in the unforgiving world of pro tennis, he was not spared the sharpest of barbs from no less than Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios among others.  

The way the year’s last slam panned out, it certainly helped Sinner prove a point to his doubters as both Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz bowed out of the US Open within a day of each other. The two players who had the measure of the Italian on similar surfaces during the year had been Andrey Rublev in Montreal and Alcaraz in Indian Wells.

Alcaraz looked to have cracked the code  when down 1-6, he made a mid-match adjustment and started varying the height of his groundstrokes, keeping the ball’s trajectory up and down to break Sinner’s rhythm. It was a challenge of sorts for the Italian, who prefers to plant his feet just behind a baseline to fire back forehands and backhands on a wire all afternoon.

Since then, a whole line of players have tried the tactic but Sinner now reads it from a mile — especially against someone like home hero Taylor Fritz, who couldn’t get the trajectory and revolutions to make things awkward.

'Means much to me'

The new found maturity also started manifesting as Sinner started making mid-match tactical adjustments. The best example on Sunday afternoon was drifting back near the back wall, changing his return position deep into the second set after Fritz had pinned him back for the majority of it.

“This title for me means so much. The last period of my career was really not easy,” said Sinner after the final. ‘’Thanks to my team who supports me every day, the people who are close to me, I love tennis. I practice a lot for these kind of stages but I also realise off the court there is a life,’’ he said.

There is certainly a life off-court for the fiercely private Sinner as he was known to be a top class skiier before he switched full-time to tennis. A thumbs up to this factoid came when after his Australian Open triumph earlier this year, multiple Olympic and world skiing champion Lindsey Vonn described him as the ‘’best skiier to win a Grand Slam".

Sinner, who dates Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya — five years his senior — but wants to keep it to himself, has said ‘’Yes, I’m with Anna, but we keep everything very confidential. I won’t say more.’’