Jannik Sinner has dedicated his world number one ranking to his country, Italy, as he moved into the semi-finals of Roland Garros.
The Australian Open champion is into his first Roland Garros semi-final after cruising past Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 6-4 7-6(3).
However that wasn’t the only piece of good news as Sinner will now be the new world number one after Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the tournament.
Speaking after the match Sinner admitted it means a lot but also commented on Djokovic’s withdrawal, “It means a lot to me for sure,” Sinner explained in his press conference.
“It’s not the way we all were expecting actually. He had two very long matches, tough matches, five sets, so it’s tough. The first one he finished really late also. You know, it’s tough also for the tournament. Novak retiring, it’s always tough.
“Talking about myself, I am very happy about this achievement. It’s a lot of work we put in daily. It’s a daily routine. Obviously happy to have this number. In two days there is a very important match for me, the semifinals, so I’m focused about that at the moment. But, yes, of course, very happy to have this number now.”
There are a lot of people that have contributed to Sinner’s success and one of them is coach Darren Cahill.
This is now the fourth different player that Cahill has had a world number one with and Sinner detailed what Cahill has added to the Italian’s team, “We started to work now nearly two years now together. It’s obviously a huge pleasure for me to have him,” Sinner claimed.
“I still remember the first week we had in Eastbourne on grass. Immediately I had good feelings with him because he has a lot of experience obviously. I know that he brought different kind of players to World No. 1.
“He had great achievements also with different players. He knows how to adapt to each player, and I think this is a quality what’s amazing, no? Him and also the combination with Simone is really, really good. They’re two different coaches, but they work together really well.
“They are very humble, and they respect each other very much. I think the combination is very good. I’m lucky to have both of them and all the rest of the team. That’s it, so I’m happy.”
It’s been an incredible rise from Sinner who will become the first ever Italian world number one in singles.
Towards the end of his press conference, Sinner dedicated his victory to Italy as he detailed the work the Italian federation has put in to make his achievement happen not just for him but other players as well, “It means a lot, but I think it’s great for Italy. We are great country with great coaches and players, and we can see this now how this moment is. I’m happy to be part of this Italian movement,” Sinner referenced.
“People, they start to play tennis now more and more, which is great to see. I think that’s the most important. If someone is No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 10, everyone is trying their best. We have a lot of tournaments. We have junior tournaments and futures and challengers, and we have great tournaments, ATP tournaments, we have ATP Finals in Turin and Rome, and we had the Next Gen in Milan.
“It’s great to see this movement in Italy. I think Italy deserves it, no, because it’s a great country. We have everything. It’s good to be part of this movement.”
Sinner will now focus on the semi-finals on Friday against Carlos Alcaraz or Stefanos Tsitsipas.
