The renowned Italian tennis player Nicola Pietrangeli cautions Jannik Sinner that he won’t face opponents until he defeats Novak Djokovic to take the top ranking in the ATP.
Pietrangeli, a two-time winner of the French Open, claimed that maintaining oneself is the difficult part of being ranked number one in the world.
After Djokovic withdrew from the 2024 French Open due to injury, Monday’s ATP Rankings update will see Sinner become the first Italian player to hold the No. 1 spot in the world.
Sinner could celebrate his victory in style by winning Roland Garros, as he was already the highest-ranked Italian player in history at world No. 2.
Pietrangeli stated that Sinner’s ascent to the top of the global rankings will make him a target for all of his opponents on the ATP Tour, but he believes his young countryman is equipped to handle this.
Pietrangeli expressed his thoughts about it in a recent interview and said: “Now that he is No. 1, everyone will want to beat Sinner. He will feel the enormous satisfaction of having succeeded, but from now on he will only have enemies. Getting there is easy, but maintaining yourself is difficult. Let’s hope it stays there. Jannik is obliged to win, but he has his feet on the ground.”
If Sinner can maintain his health, the Italian legend thinks he has what it takes to continue leading the rankings.
He added: “It’s time; too bad he didn’t do it by playing against Djokovic and beating him; it would have been more beautiful still. It’s good news. Already for some time, Sinner was giving you the impression of being No. 1. Djokovic, I saw him miraculously in two matches in a row [at the French Open]—a player like him coming in five sets twice. You could see he was tired. How long will he stay at No. 1? He is on the right track—a very good track. It all depends on his physical state because the hip doesn’t give the impression of making him suffer too much, but it’s a nasty beast.”
Sinner at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2024
Ranked world no.2 (career-high), the Italian has managed to achieve an overall 33-2 match record in 2024. Jannik is participating at the French Open where he ousted the world no.46 Christopher Eubanks 6-3 6-3 6-4, the world no.124 Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-2 6-4, the world no.56 Pavel Kotov 6-4 6-4 6-4, the world no.79 Corentin Moutet 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 and the world no.10 Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 6-4 7-63.
Jannik Sinner will play the world no.3 Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal. Their head to head is 5-4 for Alcaraz.
Jannik conquered 3 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam and Miami.
Jannik won 14 titles in his career: 6 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 7 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
Sinner will compete next in Halle (Terra Wortmann Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 17th of June.