Sinner enchants Italy – and represents a great moment in Melbourne: his fans come dressed as carrots

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Jannik Sinner (22) is currently receiving a lot of hearts. “Il ragazzo con il sorriso”, the boy with the smile, as he is called by the “Gazzetta dello Sport”, not only makes his tennis game look carefree. His on-location interviews are also characterized by their relaxed character – and are extremely entertaining. When asked at the start of the Australian Open about his between-match routine, he said: “I’ve also been doing a bit of strength training – even though you can’t see it now because I’m so skinny.” Then he jokes, “Of course I dream of a Baywatch body, but it’s okay.”

The fact that the lanky, 1.88 meter tall South Tyrolean does not come across as a muscular man does not detract from his success. Sinner continued his impressive upward trend in Melbourne. After the autumn titles in Beijing and Vienna and the victory with Italy at the Davis Cup, he will be in a Grand Slam final for the first time on Sunday, where he will meet the Russian Daniil Medvedev (27).

Sinner, the Djokovic scare

Sinner has become a real Djokovic terror. He won three of the last four matches with the Serbian number one in the world. In Friday’s semi-final victory in Melbourne, Sinner proved that he is mature enough to play his game even against top opponents – and that he is capable of punishing Djokovic mercilessly for his mistakes.

Sinner’s rise is one with promise, but not one that happened as quickly as that of Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner broke into the top 10 at the age of 20, but he needed more time to develop than the Spaniard, who at the age of 20 already has two Grand Slam titles to his name and will win the 2022 became the youngest number one in the world in history.

Sinner, the skiing talent

Jannik Sinner’s story begins in the Dolomites, as the son of Hanspeter and Siglinde Sinner, who ran the valley hut in the Fischleintal for many years. Jannik grew up as a mountain boy. Of course he skied – and so well that as a junior he became Italian giant slalom champion. He considered skiing greats such as Alberto Tomba (57) and Bode Miller (46) to be his idols.

It was only at the age of 13 that he fully committed to tennis and moved to Bordighera on the Ligurian coast, where he trained under the renowned coach Riccardo Piatti (65). This shaped him into a player that his upcoming final opponent, Medvedev, will later say has everything he needs to one day become world number one.

Sinner, the Grand Slam champion?

It won’t come to that, even if Sinner beats Medvedev in the Melbourne final. He remains fourth in the ATP rankings. Yet it is a great success for him just to have reached the final. Sinner is the first “Azzurro” to achieve this in Australia. Moreover, with the title he could end the long Italian drought in men’s tennis. He would be the first Grand Slam winner since Adriano Panatta (73) at Roland Garros in 1976.

No wonder that the enthusiasm in his home country knows no bounds. His face graces the front pages of the country. And for some time now he has been accompanied by six particularly creative fans in carrot costumes – the ‘Carota Boys’, who, like Sinner, are now sponsored by the coffee company Lavazza. And all this just because Sinner once ate a carrot as a snack during the tournament in Vienna – and it went viral.

The “Carota Boys” now have their own Instagram channel and travel almost everywhere following Sinner. Also to Melbourne. They are now back home, but have organized an extensive breakfast in Turin, where all guests must appear in orange dresses.

It’s hard to imagine how big the Rüebli celebration will be if Sinner wins the title. Before the final, he himself said simply – and in keeping with Gazzetta’s nickname: “I’m going back onto the field with a smile.”

Source : Blick