“I feel stronger” – Corriere.it

Forty-eight free hours before a Grand Slam semifinal with Novak Djokovic he had never had them. Jannik Sinner he turns time in his hands, he doesn’t know what to do with it, he smiles: I won’t change my routine one iota. One or two hours of training a day, perhaps playing a few points, because hitting the ball is always good. Long sleeps: if I don’t set the alarm, I go straight on until noon. And the night before the match, I cook: pasta with tomato sauce. Brings good. It brings good luck.

Now Djokovic: he hasn’t lost in the center for 10 years

L‘Italian way for the feat of life, third blue in the semifinals at Wimbledon after Pietrangeli (1960) and Berrettini (finalist in 2021), tenth all-time in the four Slams, has the simplicity of thought of the boy who rolled down from the mountains of South Tyrol hijacking his destiny: he seemed born to ski, but here he glides on the grass of Church Road, immediately on the ground in the first game of the quarterfinal with Roman Safiullin
, the Russian carneade who sleeps in the bed and breakfast while Jannik carries a designer bag around the club (I know the Gucci family, but not a shoe or a racket: it doesn’t help me play better…). in substance, not in details, the difference between n.8 and n.92: indulging in too many distractions (I am well aware that with Djokovic I won’t be able to afford them, he makes you pay dearly so let’s see on the positive side: there is a lot to improve), Sinner brings home the match with Safiullin of pure muscle under the closed roof in four sets, re-launching the usual question: when shooting hard is not enough, what does Jannik do? He pulls even harder. And he clings to the service.

Lavish percentages yesterday (14 aces, 90% of points won on the first), on the other hand Djoker’s serve will only be the laying of the first brick as taught by last year’s fourth, Jannik ahead two sets to zero forced to swallow his rival’s comeback. It will be a different challenge – his prophecy -, Novak knows me better because I grew up. It will be a tactical and mental match with a totally trustworthy rival, who hasn’t lost against the central player for ten years and comes from 23 Grand Slam titles won. Translated: It is the most difficult undertaking that modern tennis can offer to an aspiring champion.

Because Sinner can do it against Djokovic

Having arrived so far at Wimbledon without having faced a top 50 does not worry Sinner (I don’t think about it, I don’t care, I have beaten some top players in my career, even here on the grass) however it is clear that the level will be skyrocketed on Friday, Djokovic knows everything about Sinner and will no longer make the mistake of giving him a docile start, on the contrary he will do everything to put him uphill from the start. I feel stronger, I’m fine, I can stay on the pitch for many hours without suffering – Jannik’s long-distance answer – mentally I’m in another space than in 2022. He hoisted himself to his best ranking, in the race for the Finals in Turin n.5 : qualification to the Armored Master.

it’s too early to say if there is an air of revolution in this slice of the past located in south London and frozen in 1877. The feeling that Sinner is called to a miracle with the Serbian is perhaps the company closest to Carlos Alcarazwho today faces Holger Rune in the fourth baby (20 years in two) while the surprise Chris Eubanksthird African-American in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon after Ashe and Washington (finalist in ’96), finds Medvedev advancing with the lights off in the night. Yesterday Carlito’s dad didn’t miss a fifteen of Jannik. Whatever happens, Djoker likes it, the future today.