‘Italian’ Heritage of Australian Open Finalist Jannik Sinner Drew Him to Become a “Friend of F1”

Jannik Sinner is an Australian Open Finalist in 2024! 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic had no answer to Sinner’s big strong serves at Rod Laver Arena, which led the Italian sensation to beat the Serbian in four sets to reach his first Grand Slam final. While Sinner has had a fantastic Australian Open so far, he also has got a new role in F1 last month to promote the pinnacle of motorsport. Apparently, Sinner’s Italian heritage and his love for motorsport is a big factor that led him to become a “Friend of F1”.

According to Formula1.com, the 22-year-old will be attending several Grands Prix in the 2024 season to promote the sport and increase fan engagement. The objective of this collaboration is to capitalize on the young diverse audiences that F1 and tennis have been getting in the recent few years. Even Sinner expressed his delight and his love for F1 while talking about his new association.

“Being Italian, F1 is in my blood, so I couldn’t be more excited to be working with not only the best brand in motorsports, but the best sports platform in the world. I am honoured to be given this opportunity and truly thrilled to be a Friend of F1”, said Sinner.

The Davis Cup winner sees a lot of parallels between tennis and racing. While he highlighted his love for racing stemmed through karting and racing a simulator with friends, Sinner also mentioned how tennis and racing have a lot of ‘synergies’.

The Italian feels in both sports, the small details and focus on even 1% of the entire picture matters a lot. He also mentioned how he is intrigued to see the F1 teams fighting to improve their cars for milliseconds of performance advantage on track.

Hence, Sinner may find the high-pressure environment of F1 similar to how much pressure he feels while serving for the big points on the tennis court. One mistake in any of the sports and things can turn around. Besides, as F1 has a strong foundation in Italy, where the 22-year-old hails from, it is natural for him to follow the sport keenly.

How the stardom of young tennis stars like Jannik Sinner may benefit F1?

About his F1 role of engaging a new breed of fans into the sport, Jannik Sinner felt it was a “huge privilege”. He also feels that this collaboration may benefit both tennis and F1’s audiences. The intricacies of F1 may interest tennis fans too and vice versa.

The partnership will help Sinner showcase the synergies he feels the two sports possess. Besides, the young stardom of tennis prodigies like him can hook a lot of tennis fans to motorsport. Besides Sinner, his Spanish counterpart Carlos Alcaraz is also an F1 fan. Alcaraz showed his F1 fandom after winning a match at the Miami Masters in 2023.

The Spaniard signed the camera with “La 33”, signifying his rooting for his fellow countryman Fernando Alonso chasing his 33rd win in F1. Both Alcaraz and Sinner have become two of the top names in men’s tennis. Many consider them incredible young talents with bright futures to become greats of the sport.

Their increasing popularity is something F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali wishes to capitalize upon. About Sinner becoming a “Friend of F1,” Domenicali said, “This exciting opportunity will allow us to use Jannik’s incredible platform and bring together the worlds of F1 and tennis.”

Besides Sinner, there are many other tennis stars like Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, and Ons Jabeur who like and follow F1. Veteran legends like Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams have also often visited the paddock on Grand Prix weekends. So, the F1 and tennis worlds may keep growing closer to develop each other’s fanbases in the future.