“Too much stress, I don’t watch it” – Corriere.it

When Jannik takes the field, mother Siglinde leaves the house and walks around nervously: «I can’t see him, I have something here, it’s too much for me… too much». He always does this and he did it the other day too when the Wimbledon semifinal against the Russian Safiullin was at stake. Dad Hanspeter, on the other hand, no, he doesn’t miss a second of his champion’s challenges, as well as the other two thousand very silent inhabitants of Sesto Pusteria and perhaps even the 500 cows that populate this enchanted border valley.

On this side Italy, on the other Austria and between them, the people of Sesto, with their hearts split in half by history: roots deutsch and Italian sprouts, South Tyrolean pride and South Tyrolean sighs. Jannik Sinner grew up in this dough, on these luxuriant and tidy meadows, in this steep Dolomite land more suitable for skiing than tennis. And here, humble and discreet, Siglinde, Hanspeter and their adoptive brother Mark remained even when the little one of the house became the red baron of the world racket. «I do my job and Jannik does his, that’s right», says Siglinde spontaneously, 58 years old, a past as a waitress at the Fondovalle refuge, the same one where Hanspeter worked as a cook, and a present as the owner of holiday apartments created in the historic family home. All very simple: wood, stone, flowers.

Jannik’s father, who stopped working last year to follow his son around the world for a while, stayed in Sesto during Wimbledon. «He comes and goes, without commitments. From time to time he too goes back to the refuge… he looked for a flight to London at the last moment … ». Hanspeter the Modest will never have the presence of an Apostolos Tsitsipas, father of Stefanos. He is behind the scenes. But this time waiting for him is the son’s long-awaited match in the center against his majesty Novak Djokovic. “If he plays well, he can make it – the mother hopes -, but if he does badly, he must still be satisfied”.

If he loses, Jannik won’t be satisfied. Because the golden boy from Sesto is never satisfied. «Jannik aims high, he is very determined, he was since he was a child, when he skied and played football. Sometimes he exaggerated and his father taught him to respect others. I remember once Jannik came back crying from the football field, he must have been 10 years old. He played as a midfielder in the Sesto and Hanspeter was coach of the team. “Mom do you know what dad did? He sent me away, he sent me away!” He kicked him out because he caught the ball in midfield and scored alone without ever passing it to his teammates. The lesson served him.”

Determination, discipline, coolness, calmness. Jannik’s weapons. «He has always been calm, perhaps because we are all calm in the family but so is this environment», explained the father up at the shelter while he was cooking risotto with mountain pine, the main dish. The refuge, that day, was a bedlam and he listened and spoke measured and serene. Siglinde has no doubts: «Jannik took after him».