By reaching the Wimbledon final this year, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have joined an exclusive club, one that only Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal belonged to until now. In the Open Era, they’re the only two players to meet in both the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals in the same season besides Federer and Nadal, who did it for three straight years from 2006 to 2008. That’s not just a cool stat. It’s a signal. The new big two are here. While Alcaraz is often hailed as Rafael Nadal’s successor, fans can’t help but see flashes of Federer in Sinner’s presence and personality. Calm, poised, and quietly fierce, the Italian is making his own space in the legacy lane.

That famous Wimbledon motto? “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same.” Sinner basically lived that line. Most players would need years to recover from the kind of loss he suffered at the French Open. However, Sinner absorbed the pain, turned it into power, and came back swinging.

Only a month ago, the World No.1 sat frozen in disbelief on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Carlos Alcaraz had just beaten him in a five-set classic that lasted over five hours. Sinner held three championship points. The match was on his racket. He lost it anyway. Now, in a stunning twist, he took down the same rival at Wimbledon to win his first title there.

Interestingly, just like Sinner, Roger Federer’s greatest weapon was his calm composure. In the biggest moments, he kept it cool. “I try to push myself not to get upset and stay positive, and that’s what my biggest improvement is over all those years. Under pressure, I can see things very clear.” That quote from Federer mirrors the way Sinner has handled himself.

Along similar lines, last month, on his way out of Court Philippe-Chatrier, Sinner stopped by a jar of gummy sweets near the players’ lounge. Most players ignore it, maybe pick one or two. Sinner took the whole jar and gave it to his team. That was the moment Darren Cahill knew he was going to be OK.

At the Australian Open in 2024, Sinner came back from two sets down in the final against Daniil Medvedev. No drama, no panic, no racket throws. Just laser focus and belief. Off the court, the maturity kept showing as the 23-year-old was handed a 3 month ban for doping violations. Cahill revealed how he handled the storm  and said, “He said to me the other day, ‘Don’t concern yourself with the criticism of someone you wouldn’t take advice from.’ I am looking at him, thinking, are you 23 years of age? I know that’s a quote that is out there but to come from him, it’s like okay, let’s move on. He is a mature young man, he is a good young man and I know Italy is very proud of him and they should be.” 

That sense of calm hasn’t gone unnoticed, as Lindsey Vonn and Andy Roddick both drew comparisons to Federer when talking about Sinner’s composure. “Really reminds me of Roger Federer,” said Vonn. Roddick put it simply, “The most relaxed person I’ve ever seen beside of Roger before a Slam final.”

But this calm isn’t natural for either of them. It had to be learned.

How Roger Federer and Jannik Sinner mastered their emotions

Roger Federer wasn’t always the calm, collected icon who glided through Grand Slam finals with a poker face. In fact, the young Federer was the opposite, fiery, frustrated, and often at war with himself on court.

In an interview with Clique Dimanche, Federer opened up about the emotional work it took to become who he is. As a kid and teen, controlling his emotions didn’t come naturally. “You know, like, have the fire and desire to win but the ice coolness to absorb losses and absorb bad mistakes,” Federer said, summing up the delicate balance he eventually learned to strike.

But his turning point came with tragedy. Federer was just 21 when Peter Carter, his longtime coach from ages 9 to 18, died in a car accident. That loss hit him hard and changed him forever. It was then that Federer decided to stop wasting time on anger. He wanted to become a champion in more ways than one. Between 1998 and 1999, he quietly sought help from a psychologist. He never talked much about those sessions, but the results spoke volumes.

Now, we see echoes of that journey in Jannik Sinner. Calm on the outside, but like Federer, it wasn’t always that way. The 23-year-old revealed that staying composed is something he learned, not something that came naturally. “It’s absolutely not like that. I have a storm inside me, but tennis is a very mental sport, and you try not to show your emotions too much to your opponent,” he said in an interview. At the start of his career, Sinner admitted the storm wasn’t just internal and said, “At the beginning of my young career the storm was also outside, not only inside.”

It’s clear both Federer and Sinner had to battle themselves before they could truly conquer the sport. And when that inner storm turns into calm precision, the rest is history.