Jannik Sinner - In the end it was still a dream season
Jannik Sinner and Italy were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup against Croatia on Monday evening. The South Tyrolean can still look back on a terrific season.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 01, 2021, 12:19 pm
When Jannik Sinner was eliminated in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy against Carlos Alcaraz, the South Tyrolean suddenly saw an outstanding season with a very bitter aftertaste: The qualification for the ATP Finals in Turin was like that as good as there, instead Hubert Hurkacz would serve in Sinner's homeland. A few days later, the 20-year-old had to cede the longed-for place in the top ten to Félix Auger-Aliassime.
But lo and behold: a few weeks later, the season balance for Jannik Sinner still looks very rosy - with several emotional highlights at the end. The comeback victory against Marin Cilic was marred by the elimination with Italy, but Sinner would never experience as much emotionality as on Monday evening in Turin in the finals next weekend in Madrid. The defeat against Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic at the side of Fabio Fognini is truly no shame, the two Croatians form the best doubles pair of the year 2021.
Sinner or Berrettini - together we couldn't do it at the end of 2021
In the absence of Matteo Berrettini, Sinner has made a name for himself as the real leader of the Italian team. Which does not mean that he did not agree with his place as number two behind the injured Berrettini. Sinner and Berrettini together - that will happen at the ATP Cup in Sydney at the beginning of 2022 at the earliest. In the final phase of the current season it was always: one or the other.
Because only through the abdominal muscle injury of his compatriot Jannik Sinner then moved up to the ATP final, there breaded Hubert Hurkacz, which earned him 200 points for the world rankings and thus still tenth place in the world rankings. Against Daniil Medvedev, Sinner almost succeeded in the next coup, the Russian just pulled his head out of the noose.
And so there are four tournament victories (Melbourne, Washington, Sofia, Antwerp) in Jannik Sinner's final balance sheet in 2021. The end of his soaring flight is not in sight, because even if he has a few points to defend in the coming year: As a member of the top ten, he will be drawn more pleasant opponents in the early rounds of the Grand Slam tournaments than this year (in the Australian Open it went straight to round one against Denis Shapovalov). And with the majors, Sinner still has some room for improvement.