Sinner, you beauty!

Soccerdriven Italyhas a new obsession Jannik SinnerNot only for the manner in which Sinner rallied from two sets down to outfox Daniil Medvedev and win the Australian Open title on Sunday Ever since the 22yearold reached the ATP Finals championship match at home in Turin and played a leading role in leading Italy to the Davis Cup title on consecutive weeks in November hes been taking over the headlines from soccerJannik Sinner wrote a new page of history today that fills us with pride Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni wrote on Facebook Its an achievement worthy of a real championIts a testament to the 22yearold Sinners cleancut image his ability to always say the right thing and act properlyIve never seen such a great yet simple champion Andrea Abodi Italys Sports Minister wrote on X the social media platform previously known as Twitter Im happy and honored that hes ItalianThe attention is also due to the fact that no Italian man had won a Grand Slam singles title in nearly a halfcentury since Adriano Panatta raised the French Open trophy in 1976And trust me this is just the first of many Grand Slam finals said Flavia Pennetta the last Italian woman to win a Grand Slam after beating compatriot Roberta Vinci in the 2015 US Open finalNot since Valentino Rossi was dominating motorcycle racing Marco Pantani was the worlds top cyclist or Alberto Tomba was winning Olympic skiing medals has a nonsoccer athlete gained so much attention in ItalyWhats different about Sinner from Rossi Pantani and Tomba is that Sinner is from the Germanspeaking area of Italy He left home for the Italian Riviera to train with Riccardo Piatti now his former coach at the age of 13Also ReadDonrsquot write off Djokovic just yetWhen Sinner opted not to play Davis Cup for Italy in the September group phase saying he hadnt recovered in time from tournaments in North America including the US Open he was widely criticized with an underlying sentiment that he wasnt fully ItalianCaso Nazionale National Issue said the frontpage of Sportweek the Gazzetta dello Sports weekly magazineThe criticism quickly died down when Sinner went on his late season tear and almost singlehandedly earned Italy its first Davis Cup title since 1976 by beating Novak Djokovic in both singles and doubles in the semifinals against Serbia and then clinching the decisive singles point in the final against AustraliaThere were almost two more trophies to bring but Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori lost the Australian Open mens doubles final to Rohan Bopanna and Matt Ebden on SaturdayItaly is on top of the tennis world said 90yearold Nicola Pietrangeli the only other Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles title having won the 1959 and 1960 French OpensIn Sinners tiny hometown of Sesto population 1860 near the Austrian border about 70 people gathered inside the twocourt indoor tennis facility where Sinner first played to watch the final It might have been a bigger celebration but the town is in mourning after a mother and two children were recently killed in an auto accidentIts an incredible achievement that provides joy for us all during a time of great pain Sesto Mayor Thomas Summerer said Tomorrow we will all go to the funeral but Jannik has provided us with positive emotions to help us get through thisThe Carota Boys Sinners fan club were in Melbourne for the start of the Australian Open Having returned to Italy they watched the final on a jumbo screen in Turin together with more than 1000 orangeclad fansThe carrot theme is partly a tribute to Sinners redorange hair and how he ate carrots instead of the more common banana during a changeover at a tournament in Vienna in 2019 Carota is the Italian word for carrotIn Cortina a town not far from Sesto where World Cup ski races were being held Italian skiers and fans watched the final on their phones in between the racingForza Jannik Sinner read a banner hanging from the stands next to the ski courseAccording to the Gazzetta Sinner already earns 25 million euros 27 million per year from a large array of sponsors led by Nike His other sponsors include Head Gucci Lavazza Rolex Alfa Romeo and Parmigiano Reggiano The list is likely to grow and become even more lucrative nowNicknamed Jan the Fox since he was a school kid Sinner was an accomplished junior ski racer and his parents worked in a ski lodge where his father was a chef and his mom was a waitress Sinners father recently started traveling with his son to some tournaments but the family which also includes Sinners adopted brother Marc did not go to AustraliaI wish that everyone could have my parents because they always let me choose whatever I wanted to Sinner said to conclude his trophy speech Even when I was younger I played also some other sports and they never put pressure on myself and I wish that this freedom is possible for as many young kids as possibleWith agency inputs