AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 28, 2024

Jannik Sinner

Press Conference

J. SINNER/D. Medvedev

3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: If you want to say something. You haven't basically stopped since match point. Has it sunk in yet what you have just achieved?

JANNIK SINNER: No, for sure it takes a little while to process everything. I'm extremely happy how I handled things today. The situation on court was very, very tough.

I think the most important part was the support I had throughout these two weeks. I felt that many, many people were watching also from home in the TV, so I just tried my best. I was a little bit in trouble today with two sets to love down and in a little bit over one hour.

So I just tried to stay positive, trying to sticking to the game plan, which I had to adjust a little bit. Daniil is an incredible player, and he showed this also today again an incredible fighter. He spent so many hours on court. So I'm obviously sorry for him today, but for sure he will lift some more Grand Slam trophies.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Were you surprised by how aggressive Daniil was to start with and how proud are you of the way that you managed to turn the match around?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, for sure. I was expecting something different from his side, so I had this feeling that he might come out a little bit more aggressive. Not this aggressive.

He played really, really well for the first two sets or two-and-a-half sets. I tried just to play even level, trying to take a couple of chances in the third set, which I've done. When you win one very important game, the match can change occasionally, and that was the case today.

I just tried to stay as long in the court as possible, knowing that he has spent so many hours on the court. The more the match goes on, maybe physically I'm a little bit better today, because he played so many hours.

I think that today that was the key.

Q. Was there a particular moment in the last year or so maybe when you thought to yourself, I'm ready to win a Grand Slam title?

JANNIK SINNER: I think this season what I have done, not last year, two years ago, getting to know my body better, getting to know my team better, this was a very important step for me.

Then last year we tried to have some more results. I started off really well from the indoor tournaments, Indian Wells, Miami, I made semifinal and final. Then also Monaco I made semifinal. Then the semis in Wimbledon. So I had very good results. I think that made me believe that I can compete against the best players in the world.

But now I still have to process it, because it was, you know, beating Novak in the semis and then today Daniil in the final, they are tough players to beat. So it's a great moment for me and my team, but in the other way, we also know that we have to improve if we want to have another chance to hold a big trophy again.

So this is all, the process and the hard work occasionally will always pay off.

Q. You spoke very movingly on court about your parents and them giving you the freedom to choose as a kid. A lot of people your age are still living with their parents at home. You travel the world for a living. What's your relationship with them now? How much do you see them? Can you talk a little bit more about how important they have been to your success.

JANNIK SINNER: I don't see them so often, unfortunately, but when I see them it's always great time (smiling).

I went away from home when I was 14 years old. So I had to grow up quite fast, trying to cook for myself, trying to make laundry. You know, the first times it is different, you know, but then in the other way, that was maybe the fastest way to grow up.

I think for me was tough, but for the parents to leave their son with 14 years old, it's also not easy. They always gave me, they never put pressure on myself, which for me is maybe the key why I'm here today. I'm a very quite relaxed man, who just enjoys to play tennis. I'm 22 years old, so I also enjoy to do normal stuff.

And that's it. They are the perfect parents. Obviously I know only them (smiling) but they are awesome. And also my brother, he brings me honesty throughout the whole career I'm going through.

Q. When Darren was in here earlier he thought it was special the first time he heard you hitting a ball, the sound the ball makes on your racquet. Curious when you realized you had a special talent for hitting the ball and that the way even a coach like him is amazed by. Wondering how you keep all your hair in your hat.

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, no, this is a tough question. (Laughter.) I cannot answer that. It's magic, you know. (Laughter.)

About, like, it's tough to say if someone, from my point of view, that I am inside me basically, it's tough to understand when someone says, Look, you are special or you're a good player, because you know only yourself. It's like you cannot touch the ball what you are hitting in the other side.

But in the other way, my journey, it has been quite fast. I won challenger when I was around 17, then I won the NextGen, then came the first ATP tournament. So you live this kind of movement and then you just try to keep improving. You don't even realize how fast things are going.

Sitting here with this trophy now, watching it, it's for me I still have to realize it, no, because it's one of the biggest trophies we have in our sport. So I'm really happy that I can share this with my team today.

But in the other way I also know that I have to keep working for other occasions.

Q. Speaking of that trophy, you're the first Italian man to have your name etched on that trophy. How much does that mean to be able to represent Italy? What does it mean to tennis players in your country?

JANNIK SINNER: It means a lot. Maybe the most important. Because the support I get throughout now already years, it's incredible. Being able to make them happy today, because I feel like that they push me also, that I can believe in myself and then having so much support, it's amazing.

Having them, it's tough to say, because it's like the crowd, they give you -- that's the reason why you play in one way, because when the stadium is packed, 15,000 people, they are cheering for you or for your opponent. It's an amazing feeling just to go on court.

Then obviously when you're in tough situation, you want to make a good match also. Like today, I was going so fast, I was two sets to love down, but all the people who came there to watch, I was, like, I have to at least trying to make it a match somehow, and that was today's case.

Q. You were talking there about winning a lot of big titles at various levels at a young age. Did you feel the pressure quite a lot, especially within Italy, people said they thought you were going to be a Grand Slam champion of the future? Did you feel the pressure to live up to people's expectations?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, there is always pressure, but the pressure is something good. You have to take it in a good way. It's a privilege, no? Because there are not so many players who have this kind of pressure, but in the other way, when you have pressure, it's always, okay, he believes that I can really do it.

So yes, I like to dance in the pressure storm. I don't know how to tell. Like me personally, I like it, because that's where most of the time I bring out my best tennis. I'm also quite relaxed in this occasion, because I always try to enjoy on the court.

So I think pressure is a privilege, to be honest.

Q. Congratulations. I was wondering at what point in the match today you started to feel like this was your match to win, that you started to feel like you were in control? Where did it turn for you?

JANNIK SINNER: Control, it's tough to say. But when I got the break on the fourth set.

Q. Fourth?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah. I started to feel like, okay, I'm there. I can do it. Because the one break in the third set on 5-4, I broke him, went 6-4, it was obviously maybe the most important break I've done today, because it made me to have one set and then trying to see how he reacts.

But, yeah, if I have to choose, I guess was the break in the fourth set.

Q. Everyone always talks about your composure and how you take everything in your stride, whether it's on the court, off the court. Right now you seem very calm still. Do you feel ready for everything that's about to come, the even higher expectations, extra attention that's going to come from this?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, I feel it's part of the game, no? Me, I'm extremely happy that I am in this position now. I have a great team behind me who knows what I have to do. With Darren, he has a lot of experience. He has been through this already numbers of time. Simone, we were talking already after the match that we can improve still.

So, you know, it's all part of the process. Obviously having this trophy, it's an amazing feeling. I feel grateful to have this here. But I know that I have to work even harder, because the opponents, they will find the way to beat me and I have to be prepared.

Let's see what's coming in the future.

Q. Does it feel a little more special to win this when you're so young as opposed to having to fight on for more years? Is it a little more special to win it when Novak is still playing so well, he is still the champion he is, yet you were able to beat him?

JANNIK SINNER: It's special in any way, because it's a big trophy. It feels special when you see the big names in the draw and you can win it, yes, because I feel even more privileged to only be in the draw and then trying to win against other players.

You know, the more you go on, you see less people around in the locker room or in the eating area. This makes you feel, okay, I'm making a good tournament at the moment. And that was exactly the feeling what I had, like, in the last three rounds or so, because from quarters there is quite empty. That's I think a really, really good feeling.