After a long while, tennis saw a teenager win a title on the ATP Tour. 19-year-old Jannik Sinner won his maiden ATP title at the Sofia Open and received plaudits from a lot of current players as well as retired ones. But the Italian doesn’t want to get ahead of himself with so much praise.

In a recent chat on an Italian talk show, ‘Che Tempo Che Fa’, Sinner was humbled to receive all the praise, but he doesn’t want to get complacent. He is down to earth and still wants to prove himself.

“The compliments and praise are nice but I still have to prove everything. I have only won one ATP tournament so far, there is still a long way to go and a lot of work. Without lockdown, would I have been ahead of 37th place in the ranking? Maybe yes, but maybe no.”

(Quotes have been translated using Google Translate)

Jannik Sinner on his practice sessions during the mid-season lockdown

Further, he explained what he did during the mid-season break, which changed his 2020 season. It was his post lockdown form that sprung him onto the scene.

“During the lockdown, I did a lot of athletic work and then also a lot of tennis and so I was able to improve myself. Now I’m preparing for next season, I’m training for the Australian Open, but the dates are not yet known.”

After a quarterfinal run at the French Open, Sinner is looking forward to a stronger run at the 2021 Australian Open as well.

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At the Sofia Open, Sinner was unseeded and had to carve his way through the draw. In the process, he beat fellow next-gen star Alex De Minuar in the quarterfinals. Such brilliant performances in the post lockdown calendar have caught the eye of World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

“Sinner is definitely, I would say, the leader of the guys younger than Zverev and Tsitsipas, who I think by many experts’ opinions [is] the next ‘top’ top player.”

Sinner turns 20 in 9 months, and it has been a long time since a teenager won a Grand Slam. Rafa Nadal was the last teenager to win a Grand Slam when he triumphed at French Open 2005. Let’s see if Sinner can perform a miracle achieve the unthinkable.

Read More: Dominic Thiem Admits a Huge ‘Challenge’ of Keeping the Tennis Fans After the Retirement of ‘Big 4’