Page 73 - PROTAGONIST-133

Jannik Sinner poses with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after
winning the 2024 Australian Open Final in Melbourne, Australia.
©Kelly Defina/Getty Images

When Jannik Sinner was winning his first tournaments, a tennis player here there is everything one needs: serenity,
and he was just a young boy, he would call his parents on courts that are always available, colleagues to train with.”
the phone, who were working as a cook and waitress in a It is work, as always, “and then for me happiness is not
South Tyrolean farmhouse: “Hi Mom, I made it today.” His success, but being with my family and friends.”
parents’ response was always more or less this: “Yes, all Then again, the results speak for him: Sinner began
right, good, but don’t call me while I’m working.” This was playing tennis at the age of seven, alternating it with downhill
certainly not meant with malice, “because this is how my skiing. Then, at age 13, the choice: “In snow races you are
parents made me understand the value of sacrifice early alone with yourself and in a few seconds you can throw
on.” So, the lesson that comes from the world’s number one everything away. I love to compare myself with someone:
tennis player is that there is nothing more extraordinary that’s why I chose tennis rackets.”
than being normal. It is a life lesson, that of Hanspeter and The results came soon, and at barely 18, Jannik won the
Siglinde’s to their son, but also a lesson for us all. Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, which is basically the trophy
From that little patch of Italy unlike any other, San for the best under-23s on the circuit. From there it’s all
Candido (south of the Dolomites), with that mix of pride and ‘downhill’, or rather uphill, with records of precocity adding
education, it could only be this quiet, red-haired little boy who up one to the other: he debuts in Grand Slam tournaments,
could stand out in these noisy and somewhat tawdry times, reaches the quarter-finals of Roland Garros at the age of
to show that one can be – indeed – normal, yet incredibly 19, wins his first ATP tournament in Melbourne and then
exceptional. Jannik left home when he was not even a also his first Masters 1000. In 2019, Lavazza was one of
teenager to move to another world, from Sesto Pusterla to the first brands to believe in him and still accompanies
Riccardo Piatti’s academy in Bordighera, Liguria, and then the now world-famous champion today, strengthening the
settled down in Monte Carlo. Not because, even now, there perfect match with the world of tennis born for the brand in
is wealth to throw in other people’s faces, “but because for Wimbledon in 2011.

Protagonist Portrait 71