Jannik Sinner has enjoyed a blistering start to the season by losing just two out of 27 matches played but the Italian has warned against comparing him to other big names in the sport.
The world No.2 has claimed three titles so far this year which is more than any other player on the ATP Tour. In January he won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open before going on to win trophies in Rotterdam and Miami. He has become the first Italian man to reach number two in the ATP standings and could close in on the top sport this week depending on how he performs at the Madrid Masters which will be without No.1 Novak Djokovic.
Given his success, Sinner has been referred to as the best current player in the world by both the media and some of his peers. He is in first place in the ATP Race to Turin and has a 1650-point lead over his nearest rival.
However, the level-headed 22-year-old has played down the accolade by arguing that he can’t be compared to the likes of Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz due to their achievements in the sport.
“I think it’s a tough question to answer. We always see only this moment and I think that sometimes it’s good but also not good,” Sinner told reporters in Madrid.
“I still believe that you cannot compare myself with Novak with all that he has done. And the same goes for Carlos. Also Carlos won more than me.
“I have a lot of respect for both of them. I just try to play my game, trying to understand what works best for me and then we see what I can achieve.”
For the first time in his career Sinner will be the top seed at a Masters 1000 event this week. He is the only player to have reached the semi-final stage or better at all three previous Masters 1000’s that have taken place so far this year.
Although he is yet to experience a breakthrough at the Spanish event with his best result being a run to the third round in 2022. He didn’t play 12 months ago due to illness.
“I’m trying to understand my clay game a little bit better. Here is a little bit different than all the other tournaments because we play in altitude,” he said.
“The ball is higher. It’s flying and it’s quite fast, but I used to struggle quite a lot in the previous years finding my level here. So it’s going to be interesting to see how I’m going to play this year. I think that’s the most important thing.”
As for his title chances, Sinner states that he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself with his main goal being to improve his game ahead of the French Open. So far in his career, only one out of his 13 tour titles have been won on the clay.
“I don’t want to put pressure on myself,” he said.
“I’m living a very positive moment, winning a lot of matches, I just try to keep going like this. In my mind, I know that I can and have to improve if I want to win more.
“I am searching for new opportunities and I feel like that every tournament I play, there can be a good opportunity to try to show that my level has raised.
“Showing what I have improved, that’s for sure something that I would like to do here. This is a new opportunity, new tournament and we’ll see how it goes.”
Should Sinner reach the Madrid final he would be only the second Italian to do so after Matteo Berrettini in 2021.