TENNIS – A new king of tennis. Due to the withdrawal of the Serbian Novak Djokovic from Roland-Garros due to injury this Tuesday, June 4, it is the Italian Jannik Sinner who will recover the place of world number 1 at the end of the Paris tournament.
Roland-Garros: Novak Djokovic withdraws from the end of the tournament, Jannik Sinner new king of world tennis
“It’s everyone’s dream to become world No.1. On the other hand, seeing Novak withdraw is very disappointing. I wish him to heal quickly”commented Sinner upon hearing the news on court after his victory against Grigor Dimitrov.
“This is an important moment for me and I am very happy to share it with you, those watching at home and especially from Italy”, he added to the audience. Qualified for the semi-finals, he can aim for a second Grand Slam title on Sunday after winning the Australian Open in January.
Victories against Djokovic
Jannik Sinner, 22, is the first Italian to occupy the number 1 spot in the ATP rankings. As detailed The Team, his new position owes nothing to chance, he who has 31 victories for only 2 defeats since the start of 2024.
When he was younger, Jannik Sinner, who grew up in the Italian Alps, skied for a long time. He finally turned professional in tennis in 2018, and his rise has been meteoric. In 2020, he reached the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros and was eliminated by Rafael Nadal.
Progressing in the ranking, he enters the top 10 of the best players from 2021, then collects victories and good performances in 2023: winner of the Montpellier tournament, finalist of the Rotterdam tournament, finalist of the Masters 1,000 in Miami… By winning his five matches in the Davis Cup, including the one against Novak Djokovic in the singles in the semi-final, he allowed Italy to win this competition, a first since 1976.
Fans disguised as carrots
Continuing this good momentum, he beat Novak Djokovic again in the semi-final of the Australian Open in January 2024 then was stronger than Daniil Medvedev in the final. He then won his first Grand Slam. Qualified for the semi-final of Roland-Garros, he will take the number 1 place in the ATP rankings regardless of his progress in the tournament.
A portrait of Jannik Sinner would not be complete without mentioning his eccentric supporters disguised as carrots. A handful of young fans follow the Italian on his travels. Dressed in an orange suit, and they don’t go unnoticed.
These six Italians from Revello, Italy, explained to Release that everything was “part of a joke” : “ We love tennis and like every year, in 2023, we bought tickets for the Rome tournament. But we wanted to find a different way to encourage Jannik. Since he ate a carrot in the middle of a match a few years ago, we decided to buy carrot costumes online and go to Rome with them. It’s that simple. »
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