CHINA OPEN

September 27, 2023

Jannik Sinner

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Jannik Sinner.

Jannik, welcome and how is your preparation so far?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, for sure I'm very happy to be here. It's the first time for me here in China. It feels good.

When I arrived, I was a little bit sick, but it's getting better. Today I feel much better. Hopefully I can be in 100% for my first-round match.

Very happy, as I said, to be here. It's something new for me, playing here and after Shanghai. It's a really nice experience to make it finally. In 2019, I haven't had the chance to play here. Then obviously after COVID came. Now I am finally here, so it feels good.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You played doubles with Alex. How do you feel about doubles and your partner?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, for sure we are not -- well, he is better doubles player than I am (smiling). I'm very happy to play with him. We haven't won one match yet, so hopefully we can make it happen here.

I think we both have a lot of fun to play together. We can play really good doubles. It's going to be, yeah, fun. I feel like we understand each other very well on court, and also off court we talk a little bit about other stuff. It's quite relaxing to play with him. That's also maybe the biggest reason why I play with him, as I said.

But when we go on court, we try to win. We give our best. Hopefully we can show this here.

Q. You are so cool and collected. Do you think you're a typical Italian?

JANNIK SINNER: No, I think everyone, it doesn't really matter on what country you come from, everyone is different, no? I also get nervous obviously because everyone gets nervous. It's sometimes a very tough sport, but you have to accept the tough moments.

For me, my body and mind, it feels better when I am quite calm, especially in the tough moments. Even if it's tough for me to stay calm sometimes, that's what I try to learn. The mental side is really important. I'm trying to improve also on that side.

Yeah, but as I said, everyone is different, no? Everyone's his own choice how he wants to behave on court.

Q. The tennis media likes to compare you and Carlos as rivals. Does it give you more motivation or pressure?

JANNIK SINNER: No, look, at the moment it's tough to talk about this rivalry because I feel he has won so many things at the moment. I think at the moment he's still a better player, no? He has shown this. He was No. 1 in the world already couple of times. I think at the moment the biggest rivalry is him and Novak.

But in the other way, for sure every time when we play against, it's a really good match. I think we both show the best out of ourself.

At the moment I'm very focused about myself because I have to improve also physically because I feel like I have a lot of potential physically. That's also the reason why I played much more less tournaments this year than last year, because I have to prepare the body to win the big tournaments.

It's going to be a question what will be answered in the future, no? I would be happy to be the rivalry of Carlos, for sure. I feel like that I have the potential to do it. But let's see.

It's all about the future. We can't say what's happening (smiling).

Q. You just played the longest match with Alexander Zverev in the US Open. We are happy to see all the young players getting back to China Open. Would you say some words about your ambition in this tournament, and if you are facing Zverev again, what are you going to do?

JANNIK SINNER: No, look, as I said before, it's a huge privilege. I feel very happy and pleased to be here for the first time. I was always asking myself about how it's going to be in China. Now I can finally experience this.

The culture is different. I really like the people. It's really nice. They are really respectful. They always try to help. It's very nice to be around here.

Also before the tournament, they're like, So you like China? But I couldn't say how it is because I've never been here. I'm happy to be here. Hopefully I can show also some good tennis, because that's the reason why I'm here, to play tennis, and hopefully I can win as many matches as possible, then we see how it goes.

I am at the moment really relaxed. Hopefully we all can show some good tennis. The draw is really high, so many good, good players are here. Let's see what's coming.