Fresh from making history in Madrid, Jannik Sinner wasted little time turning his thoughts to completing the ‘Golden Masters’ by triumphing on home soil in Rome next week — which would make him only the second man to win all nine Masters 1000 titles.
The 24-year-old Italian became the first man to win five successive Masters 1000 crowns on Sunday after dismantling Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-2 in 57 minutes, adding Madrid to recent triumphs in Paris, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo.
With only Rome missing from his collection, Sinner will be hoping to go one better than last year when he was beaten in the final by Carlos Alcaraz in what was his first event back after a three-month doping suspension. Should he emerge victorious, he will follow in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic as the only men to have won all nine Masters titles.
“Playing at home is always special. Physically, I’m good and there is no reason not to play at Rome and I’m happy to be going to Rome; it’s very special to me,” Sinner told a press conference in Madrid on Sunday.
“Last year I made a comeback after a difficult period and it certainly gave me a lot emotionally and in terms of support in general playing there. So I’m very happy to be returning there, and on the other hand, winning the tournament isn’t easy; all tournaments are very difficult. So we’ll see how it goes there.
“But right now, honestly, I’m just thinking about resting mentally for the next 2–3 days, because I’ve given so much and there’s so, so much energy behind what you put into a tournament, so we’ll see.”
Sinner, who has underlined his dominance on hardcourts and clay this season, admitted the strain of expectation has been mounting.
“I want to enjoy this right now. It has been a very, very long tournament. I’m obviously very happy. But now it’s also good to recover, especially mentally, there’s a lot of pressure.”
Asked about Zverev’s suggestion that there is a sizeable gap between Sinner and the rest of the field, the Italian said: “It’s tough to say.
“Sometimes you have good days, sometimes bad days. Today it was a really, really good performance for myself. Very solid serving… But I don’t compare myself with other players. I try to be the best possible version of myself, and that’s it.
“In my opinion, (Zverev) was a bit more tired today, and so when I’m a bit more tired, I tend to be a bit more nervous too. It’s the most normal thing. I played very solidly on the key points, I tried to make the right choices and then the result was excellent.”
Source: Khaleej Times