Roger Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic has hailed Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner for keeping his feet on the ground. The former Croatian tennis player feels the Italian doesn’t get excited when he wins and doesn’t make drama when he loses.
Sinner has a calm head on his shoulders and recently won his first title on grass – the Halle Open, by beating Hubert Hurkacz in the final in straight sets. The 22-year-old is having a stellar season as he has already won the Happy Slam, made it to the semifinal of Roland Garros, and also climbed to the numero uno position in the PIF ATP Rankings.
“I think Jannik Sinner is a wonderful example for young people. It’s not that others aren’t, but he has a particular way of doing things: he doesn’t get excited when he wins and he doesn’t make dramas when he loses,” Ivan Ljubicic said in an interview with Sky Sports.
“He does his job, he delivers. what he says. His greatest talent is to get to work like this, he doesn’t change his character and he will continue like this, and that will take him very high. We’ll see. He just won his first Slam and now he continues to win more tournaments,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner gave credit to his parents for his success and admitted that while results matter, hard work to get to one’s goal is also very important.
“I went to a couple of tournaments when I was younger – 16 or 17 – and I lost. And afterwards I called my parents and I wanted to explain what happened. And they said, ‘Yeah, OK, but we have to talk later because we have to work now, OK?’” Jannik Sinner said while talking to Financial Times.
“At that point, I understood that obviously results matter, but what really matters is trying to work hard, waking up and going to work and doing it with a smile. My parents always came home and smiled. So that’s what they gave me: a really positive mindset with a really good work ethic,” he added.
Sinner will now take part in Wimbledon, which begins on July 1.