By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 13, 2024
Tennis isn’t about what happens to you, on or off the court, says Jannik Sinner. It’s about how you react to what happens to you that really matters. Nobody knows that better than the World No.1 in 2024. He has risen to remarkable heights this season, winning two majors and seven titles overall after his triumph over Novak Djokovic in Shanghai on Sunday, but he has also been faced with difficult challenges that threatened to throw the 23-year-old dynamo into a tailspin.
Faced with doping charges stemming from two positive tests for the performance enhancing substance clostebol, Sinner had to work to clear his name. He did so, and revealed the news of his controversy to the world, just before this year’s US Open.
In the wake of such a bombshell it would have been normal for Sinner to crumble under the pressure, but he rose instead, capturing his second major title in Flushing Meadows.
But the controversy that won’t quit has continued to follow Sinner. After news hit that WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency – is appealing his case and aiming for a 1-2 year ban, Sinner still compartmentalizes and continues his winning ways.
How has Sinner, who improved to 65-6 on the season this weekend in Shanghai, and locked up the ATP’s year-end No.1 ranking for good measure, done it?
Stamina, both mental and physical.
“I feel that physically I'm ready to play for a longer amount of time at the highest level possible,” he said. “Also mentally I'm ready to accept every tough situation on the court, and I think that's the biggest step I made forward,” Sinner said.
“Just trying to stay as calm as possible, and even to keep working hard. It doesn't really matter if you have a good week or a bad week, just trying to improve daily, whenever you have a chance to, trying out new things, trying to see new things… and trying to be mature enough to understand what's working… I feel like that for me made a big impact this year, and hopefully it's going to help me also for the next year.”
Despite the glittering success he’s had this season, Sinner admits that the circumstances of his doping case have taken a toll. The joy is not quite what he’d like it to be.
“I know this year has been very, very tough for me because of other circumstances, and at points I lost a little bit of smile because I had some issues off the court, and then they're still in my mind sometimes,” he said. “It's never easy to play in these kind of circumstances where I am in.”
Sinner says that he can’t avoid thinking about his current dilemma, but he also takes comfort in some of the lessons learned in 2024. Lesson No.1? No matter what happens in the future, he won’t let success change him.
“I have moments where I think about it, which is not comfortable, and not the best part,” he said. “So, yeah, you take the success in a different way, and I think that's what I learned is that the success will never change me as a person, or as a player also.”