Jannik Sinner wrapped up his first round match in a very businesslike manner with little to no hiccups. Given his form of late, the Italian is being touted as one of the few who can challenge and beat Novak Djokovic, something many are itching to do. None more so than Carlos Alcaraz, who just before the start of the first Grand Slam of the season, expressed his wish of playing the Serbian in the final. Sinner, who beat the World No. 1 twice towards the tail-end of last season, addressed this comment by his Spanish rival.
Having sent Botic van de Zandschulp packing 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, Jannik Sinner answered a few questions, one of which requested him to spare his thoughts on a possible semifinal match up against Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s desire to play the Serb in the final.
As would be expected of the cool-headed Italian, the World No. 4 is careful not to get too ahead of himself. After reiterating the importance of staying in the moment over the course of the two weeks of a Major, Sinner owned up to the status and expectations he now carries by admitting he wants to play the big matches in front of big crowds.
“It’s Sunday today, so long long to go but for sure you’re aiming for these matches. But in the other way, I go day by day to be honest. You have one job at a time, today was one player, Wednesday is going to be a different player. You have to try to beat this guy now and that’s it to be honest. I don’t want to say much more about this at the moment because I feel like there still a lot of work to do to get to this point.
“So yeah, let’s see. Nobody can tell the future. As I said, obviously, we aim to play big matches in big stadiums so let’s see. It’s gonna be an interesting tournament.”
Is Jannik Sinner ready for his first Slam?
While some might have taken a bit of offense to Carlos Alcaraz expressing his wish to meet Djokovic in the final, Jannik Sinner will evidently give it no second thought. Wanting to play and beat Novak Djokovic at a Grand Slam, especially in the final, is a dream many young guns are working very hard towards.
Alcaraz has already done it once and he clearly wants to wash himself in that feeling again. But he must not get too ahead of himself. For him to reach the final, he might have to beat a certain Daniil Medvedev, the very player who delivered the final blow to the Spaniard’s mission to defend his title at US Open a few months back.
The World No. 2 has been accused of thinking too far ahead and at times even obsessing over his Serbian rival. A poor end to the season by the standard he set did not help in putting those accusations to bed. On the contrary, Jannik Sinner gave fans to reconsider who would be the biggest threat to unseating Novak Djokovic from his throne Down Under. A scintillating end to the season that included a Davis Cup title for Italy and a runners-up medal at the ATP Finals to go with his two impressive wins over Djokovic, has catapulted the Italian’s popularity and in turn his confidence.
The Italian is not thinking about anything other than his next match and his next opponent and that is precisely what he needs to do to lift his maiden Grand Slam title. He may not have the support he had in Turin for the ATP Finals, he may not necessarily have an indoors field of battle as he did at the Davis Cup but he certainly has the game to beat the best and win the biggest title of his career. He simply needs to keep his head to give himself a very good chance and he seems to be doing exactly that.
