Nicola Pietrangeli is confident that Jannik Sinner will break most of his records and feels that the world No. 1 possesses the mental toughness of the greatest champions.
Sinner’s 2024 campaign has been nothing short of spectacular. He raised the Australian Open trophy in January, completing his first Grand Slam victory of the year. Five months later, he won his second Grand Slam at the US Open, making history as the first Italian to reach the top of the ATP Rankings and become the No. 1 player.
Sinner, who is 23 years old, is compared to all-time greats Rod Laver and Pete Sampras. Many believe Sinner will dominate men’s tennis alongside Carlos Alcaraz over the next few years. Pietrangeli has highlighted Sinner’s greatest strengths.
He talked about it recently and said: “What do you want me to say? My friend, Laver, was someone like that; the more complicated the situation got, the more he was able to get out of trouble. I understand it may be a cumbersome comparison; Rod at the moment remains something unattainable, but Jannik has the mental strength of the greatest champions. And in some ways, he reminds me of Sampras.”
Pietrangeli claims that of Sinner’s current rivals, only Alcaraz is truly able to compete with him.
He added: “Sinner is now the strongest of all; the numbers and the level of his tennis show it; in my opinion, when he is well, he is unbeatable. Perhaps only Carlos Alcaraz can bother him; for the others, I don’t see any chance. In the next few years, I foresee a duel with Spain to win the most important tournaments. The others are far from their level, especially now that [Novak] Djokovic, due to his age, is inevitably declining. I would have liked to see Sinner with the Big Three at their best; we would have seen some great things.”
Pietrangeli is certain that Sinner, who won the Davis Cup for Italy last year, will smash all of his previous records. Pietrangeli led Italy to two Davis Cup victories and also holds two trophies for finishing second in the French Open.
He concluded his discussion and said: “I am not envious of Jannik; as someone wrote, I hope he breaks all my records and I am sure he will succeed. He will have to watch out for injuries but if he can stay healthy, he will still take huge satisfaction. The only record he won’t be able to take away from me is that of Davis Cup appearances and victories, partly because far fewer matches are now played in this competition.”
Living Italian tennis legend compares Jannik Sinner’s mentality to Pete Sampras https://t.co/cjP7NC9QuB
— FirstSportz Tennis (@FS_Tennis1) September 17, 2024
Jannik Sinner in 2024
WWWWWWWWWW Ranked no.1, Sinner played his last match on the 8th of September when he overcame world no.7 Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-4 7-5 in the final of the U.S. Open to win his 17th career title.
This season Sinner owns a composed 55-5 record. Jannik conquered 6 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and U.S. Open.
Sinner has scheduled to compete next in Beijing (China Open). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 23rd of September.
