Jannik Sinner is enjoying the prospect of playing under pressure ahead of his ATP Finals opener in Turin against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Italian has qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time in his career after an incredible season which saw him claim a maiden Masters 1000 title in Canada.
Now Sinner gets to do what he did in 2021 as an alternate and that’s play in front of his home fans with the Italian admitting that he loves to play under pressure, “I love to play under pressure. I love to play tie-breaks, I love to play the important points because I feel like there you can see who has what kind of game,” Sinner told the ATP website ahead of the ATP Finals.
“And I feel like I’m trying to find as many important points as possible. Also because this makes you grow and also I’m here trying to win, but also to add some experience package for the next tournaments.
“Happy that this event is here in Turin. Hopefully it’s something positive for me trying to have a great connection with the crowd and hopefully I can handle it and handle the situation with the right mentality, because I feel I have a little bit more pressure, which is a very positive sign for me.”
Sinner is in the same group as Novak Djokovic as the Italian looks to end his season on a high.
Ahead of the week Sinner spoke about how positive the crowd was two years ago and also reflected on a season that has seen him win 57 matches on the ATP tour, “I had a great feeling two years ago when I went to court with the crowd,” Sinner admitted.
“The connection was great and hopefully I can have a little bit or the same amount of connection. The crowd is going to stay behind me in good times but hopefully especially in the bad times that they push me. They give me some positive energy and hopefully I can convert it into a high level.
“I had a very good season and I played fewer tournaments than last year but I played more matches. It’s obviously a great sign for me and how I ended the past several tournaments was good. Hopefully I can show this here.”
Heading into the week, Sinner is favourite to qualify from the Green Group but will know it will be a tough test.
First up is potentially Stefanos Tsitsipas although the 2019 champion has been dealing with elbow injuries in his past two practice sessions and is a doubt for the match.
However if Tsitsipas is fit Sinner has admitted that it will be a tough opening match to start his ATP Finals campaign, “His strength is the serve plays really good and his high intensity,” Sinner explained.
“He puts a lot of intensity on the court. He also tries to go to the net a lot more, so it’s not easy to play against him. I’m really looking forward to it. It is going to be the first match for both of us.”
The match will take place at 14:30 local time with the Greek leading the head-to-head series 5-2.
