AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 10, 2025

Jannik Sinner

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Jannik, welcome back. How does it feel to be here in Melbourne where you won your first Grand Slam title last year?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, it's very special, special place to be back. Many, many things have changed on and off the court. Very glad that these memories will always be in my mind for so, so many years.

Let's see what I can do this year. It's a question what I think nobody of us can answer. But it's good to be back here, and we'll see what the tournament is going to say.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Why did you choose to start your season here in Melbourne and not play any tournaments before?

JANNIK SINNER: No, because last season was very, very long. I played also the Davis Cup. After, you need some time to rest, to reset everything. You have to make a certain amount of off-season to prepare it, to prepare your body in the best possible way, making some technical and tactical changes in your game. You need time.

We decided to don't play any tournaments before. You never know what's going to happen, especially the first round. In a Grand Slam, you never know.

I know how much work we put in, then we see how it goes. Yeah, you need a certain amount of the off-season.

Q. How would you say becoming world No. 1 and winning two Grand Slams last year has affected your life? I'm thinking about the impact maybe on your personal life, the things you want to do in your spare time, as well as the impact that all those extra responsibilities and commitments have on the amount of time you can put into your tennis.

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, it was a massive change. Many, many things have changed. Last year there were so many first times. Not only first time winning Grand Slam, but also the year before first time of Davis Cup. Then after becoming world No. 1, then winning also the year-end Finals. There are not so many first times left in our sport.

Obviously there are still two different Grand Slams what I'm still missing. I know exactly what to expect. We could have managed couple of things slightly better, yes, of course. This is what we want to do better this year on but also mostly off the court.

With 23 years old, you don't know exactly what the right thing is to do sometimes. I think I learned from last year. We're going to make it much, much better also this year, how to handle certain situations off the court.

That's it.

Q. Carlos, the rivalry is such an exciting part of men's tennis. What is it like actually playing against him compared to the other opponents?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, you have more tension. You have more eyes on us because this is a match most people want to see. Obviously there are so many other great, great players that are in the mix with us.

First you have to arrive to this stage where you play against Carlos, which is a very difficult part to go through. When this happens, the feeling - I think he also feels the same way - it's a bit different. Young players, we usually play high-quality match because when two players face each other and you bring out your best, the quality of the match usually is very high.

Yeah, I think that's it, no? At the end of the day it's a tennis match. We try to do our best. Hopefully the people and the crowd enjoys.

Q. You mentioned in the off-season technical and tactical changes you wanted to make. You might not want to share any of that. Is there anything you're prepared to say about what those changes were?

JANNIK SINNER: No, on every shot slightly small, small changes. The small details at a certain point, they could make the difference, so...

Of course, one part is very important for me, trying to mix up the game a little bit more, trying to move forward a little bit. That's exactly what we were trying to do in the off-season. Service motion slightly different. Even if from outside you cannot see these changes, but as a player you realize it.

That's it, no? I think tennis is an all-around game. Also the physical part is very important. The mental part is very important. We made some changes, but let's see this year how it goes.

Q. Do you have clarity on when your CAS hearing is going to be? How much has that pending date been affecting your mood or stress levels at all?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, I know exactly as much as you guys know. We are in a stage where we don't know many, many things.

Yeah, you think about this, of course. I would lie if I would tell you I forget. No, it's not like this. It's something what I have with me now already for quite a long time.

But it is what it is. I'm here trying to prepare the Grand Slam. Let's see how it goes.

Q. How do you block that part of it out? There's a word 'compartmentalize' where you put the bad stuff in a box, you go do this stuff. How do you handle the noise? Even here you have Nick with his tweets, referencing it.

JANNIK SINNER: I don't think I have to answer this, to be honest.

How do I block it? It's not that you just put it in a part and you just say I don't think any more about this. In my mind I know exactly what happened, and that's how I block it, no?

I haven't done anything wrong. That's why I'm still here. That's why I'm still playing. I don't want to respond on what Nick said or what other players says.

I think the most important part is to have my people around me who I can trust, people they exactly know what happened. That's it.

Q. I wanted to ask you about pretty much what was asked, a follow-up on that. Did those tests, did that put any doubt in your head of whenever you take a medicine or take what you eat, are you nervous about anything post the test last year?

JANNIK SINNER: No, because I've done the same thing before. As I approach these things, they haven't changed. Before I was very, very careful on every single medicine I take, even what I eat. When the bottle is open, I throw it away, I take a new one.

I was always very, very careful about this stuff. No, haven't changed.