Red-hot Sinner focused on continuing to improve

Jannik Sinner has not lost a tennis match in 2024 so far, winning his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and backing it up by winning next time out in Rotterdam a couple of weeks ago.

Some players would have celebrated hard after winning a first slam title but Sinner is cut from a different cloth, and the way he goes about his daily business, always thinking about how he can improve, suggests his win in Australia may turn out to be the first of many.

“I had to do a couple of things in Rome,” he told reporters on Wednesday, looking back to his post-Melbourne time. “But while I was in Rome, I was already in the gym working.

“I always think and believe that you live in moments. It was a positive and special moment. But then after you have to do it over again. You have to wake up in the morning and work again. And if you lose, you live this negative moment, but you don’t live your career with this.

“I have maybe a little bit different point of view of how to celebrate these kinds of things. Obviously, we had fun for one day, but then after everyone went home, and that’s how we deal a little bit with all this.”

Sinner eyeing rankings rise

The Italian is already up to No 3 in the world on the back of his sensational start to the year – and excellent finish to 2023 – but he’s clearly intent on going higher. In the live rankings, he’s No 2 so if he matches or betters what Carlos Alcaraz does in Indian Wells, he’ll leapfrog the Spaniard to another new career-high.

Sinner plays Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round and though he reached the semi-finals last year (losing to Alcaraz), he’s already thinking of what he can gain over the next week and a half.

“I think tennis is a good sport because you can always set new goals,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what kind of title you win. The next week is a good week and a good opportunity to do again something great.

“In my mind, I know that there are some important points for me to have a better ranking. This kind of motivation just keeps pushing me and of course, even more importantly, it’s to become a better tennis player throughout every week. So we will work. It doesn’t matter what the result is in the tournaments, we will keep working and hopefully I can get to 100 percent in every single department.”

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