Jannik Sinner has reached the first Masters 1000 final of his career after beating Roberto Bautista Agut in a very tight final. What makes this achievement so amazing is that Sinner is playing his third Masters 1000 main draw and the first on hard courts.
“It feels unbelievable. It’s always tough to play against Roberto. Two weeks ago we played in Dubai. We had a tough match there. Now we played a tough match here. I am very happy about reaching the final in Miami”,said Sinner.
Sinner will be looking to become the second Italian player to win a Masters 1000 title two years after Fabio Fognini triumphed on another Easter Sunday in Monte-Carlo.
The 19-year-old Italian Next Gen star has become the fourth teenage player to reach the Miami final after legends André Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. In Sunday’s final against his friend Hubert Hurkacz he could become the youngest Miami champion in the 36-year history of the US hard-court tournament. Agassi and Djokovic won this tournament as teenagers.
Sinner was ranked world number 322 two years ago and is now close to breaking into the top 20 if he wins the Miami final against Hurkacz, who was Sinner’s doubles partner in Dubai earlier this year. The young Italian is more focused on continuing his development rather than being distracted by the attention of the media, who predict him a future as world number 1.
“It feels great obviously, but as I always say, I am 19. The road to have this big name is long. It’s not done in one week or tournament. It’s a long process to come there. I think it’s nice to play in the final here in Miami, but it doesn’t mean anything, that you are going to win other tournaments. The road is long. I felt well from the beginning of the week on court. Obviously it’s a great result, but first I have one more match in front of me. I know it. My team knows that. Often my coaches put me in situations that I don’t like, where I struggle, because this is the only way to learn. When you train even if you are concentrated, you know that there is nothing to lose while in the game you have to stay there, find solutions, stay focused.”, said Sinner.
Sinner has been guided by Riccardo Piatti since he deciced to move to Bordighera at the age of 13 to train at the Piatti Tennic Centre at the age of 13. Piatti, who also coached Novak Djokovic in the early stages of his career and Ivan Ljubicic, Renzo Furlan, Cristiano Caratti and Omar Camporese, Richard Gasquet and Borna Coric, thinks that Sinner is just at the beginning of a long road.
“A tennis player becomes a professional after playing at least 150 matches on the circuit. Jannik is over a third of the way”, said Piatti.
Sinner inherited the work’s ethic from his father Johan, who works as chef, and his mother Siglinde, a waitress in a restaurant in Val Fiscalina in the German speaking region in Sud Tyrol. “I have it from my parents because they are working every day a simple job. They know what it means to work hard. They gave me this kind of mindset, always trying your best day after day, and trying to not lose energy during your job”, said Sinner.
