Jannik Sinner: Italy revels in his success during ATP Finals despite doping controversy

Chris

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Jannik Sinner Italy revels in his success during ATP Finals despite doping controversy

After the best season of his career, Jannik Sinner has achieved an almost divine status that only a handful of outstanding Italian sports masters enjoy:

Skier Alberto Tomba, motorcyclist Valentino Rossi and footballer Roberto Baggio.

Sinner is only 23 years old. But as the country's only player ever ranked as the best tennis player in the world, he has already joined the pantheon.

The hectic concentration on the boy from Innichen upon his arrival at the ATP finals in Turin – flashing photographers and screaming autograph hunters kept at a distance by burly security guards – showed that he is a man in demand.

And the well-documented doping case That this is still ongoing does not seem to have diminished that demand, given the newspaper columns and crowd support at his games here.

“This is a completely new dimension,” veteran Italian tennis journalist Ubaldo Scanagatta told BBC Sport.

“I've been competing in Grand Slam tournaments since 1974, and I've only seen something like this from a tennis player once – in 1976, when Adriano Panatta won the French Open after beating Björn Borg in the quarterfinals.”

It was “Sinnermania” in Turin.

All 183,000 tickets on sale for the ATP Finals – 30,000 more than in 2023 – were sold days before the event began.

On the secondary market, entry to group stage matches cost just under 600 euros (£500). They pay 1,500 euros (£1,250) for the final, where everyone hopes to see their red-haired hero, nicknamed the Orange Fox.

His arrival at a medical center, where he underwent some fitness tests before the tournament, reminded many of what happened in the Juventus sports clinic six years ago when Cristiano Ronaldo signed: mass hysteria and boundless enthusiasm.

His tennis skills and personality off the court – calmness and an understated humor – have made him a national favorite and attracted top Italian brands to compete for his support.

“Jannik represents a new way of being number one in tennis, one that is very close to people,” said Diego Nargiso, a former world No. 67 and now master of ceremonies at the ATP Finals, the season-ending tournament for the top eight men Singles and doubles teams.

“He is so simple and down to earth. That’s why people love him – and the sponsors.”

One of his main characteristics is mental strength.

This not only allows him to improve his game when it matters most, but also helps him out of the most difficult phase of his career.

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