Jannik Sinner has solidified his status as the world’s best player. In addition to helping Italy win the Davis Cup again this year, he has achieved world No. 1 status and won two Grand Slams, the ATP Finals, and five other titles.
On the tour, though, he wasn’t always a formidable threat. When Sinner defeated Steve Johnson as a teenager, the former No. 21 felt so embarrassed by the match that he wanted to quit right away.
Sinner, then 17 years old, made a big impression five years ago when he defeated Johnson in the opening round of the Masters 1000 in Rome after being given a wildcard. Johnson was in the top 60 at the time, while the Italian was ranked No. 263 in the world.
After the American player served for the match in the decider, Sinner came back to win 1-6, 6-1, 7-5, winning the final five games. Despite having recently won Challenger and Futures tour titles, the current world No. 1 had only participated in two ATP matches before that.
And Johnson wanted to give up tennis because he was so ashamed of his loss. On his Nothing Major podcast, the 34-year-old reviewed the match and noted that, at the time, he had no knowledge of Sinner.
He talked about it and said: “I don’t know if you guys ever felt this; you play like a local wildcard or a hometown kid and there’s different feelings you have. So I walk out there and the kid’s like 6’3, 112 pounds, like super skinny and you’re just like, ‘Oh, this could go bad for me. You gotta win, right?’ Because this is a bad look on centre court.”
He added: “And then the third set rolls around. I’m just like, ‘Please win, you’ve got to win this, just find a way.’ I either served for the match or had match points and then lost 7-5. The defeat took a toll on the four-time title winner, who thought Sinner had no future. I called my agent, and my coach wasn’t even there at the time; he was flying in the next day, but I’m like, ‘I just lost to—this kid stinks; he’s terrible. I’m literally quitting tennis for the rest of your life.”
Jannik Sinner in 2024
WWWWWWWWWW Now the world no.1, Jannik played his last match on the 24th of November when he beat world no.40 Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2) 6-2 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
This season Jannik has managed to achieve a 73-6 match record. The Italian has won 8 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati, U.S. Open, Shanghai and the Nitto ATP Finals. Sinner was the finalist in Beijing.
