Jannik Sinner has been officially crowned the world number one, and he reflected on this in an interview with the ATP.
The Italian earned the chance to become the 29th world number one by putting together a really impressive showing at Roland Garros, where he advanced to the semi-final.
He was fairly close to a final, but Carlos Alcaraz simply proved too much. With Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal, Sinner was guaranteed to take over as world number one, which was a great honor for him.
It might not have come in the way he had hoped for it to, but ultimately, it’s a dream come true and it represents results over the past 52 weeks and not just one tournament. He received the trophy in Monaco, where he also sat down with the ATP for an exclusive interview about becoming world number one player.
“For sure, it means a lot to me. Being World No. 1, it means you had a great year — actually, an incredible year with a lot of success, and obviously [I am] very happy about this.”
“On the other hand, you always have tournaments. You have to play the biggest tournaments. So that’s a huge privilege to be part of, and I’m just looking forward for the next challenges.”
The achievement comes after an amazing eight months for Sinner, who started it off in the summer of last year. With each week, he played better and better, and the crowning moment came earlier this year in Melbourne, where he won his maiden Grand Slam trophy.
Now he’s become world number on the ATP Tour, but the 22-year-old knows that the journey doesn’t end here.
“I think it’s the biggest meaning we have in our sport. It’s the best number you can have. This is everyone’s dream, to be in the position. Being No. 1 in the world is an achievement that you build in one year’s time. And now obviously, we’ll see how much I can stay there, and then that’s a different challenge.”