With his positive result, Sinner speaks about life in silence: “One day I woke up and thought…”

In the same week Jannik Sinner was interviewed by Heaven Italy to talk in detail about how he experienced the last few months when the news of his positive test and subsequent acquittal by the ITIA broke. The issue is still ongoing due to the appeal filed by WADA, which aims to further investigate the case. Meanwhile, the Italian confidently makes his way through the race track and proves that he is currently the best and most consistent of all.

The interview will air this Friday, October 25th, but Ubitennis had access to the video, so we offer you a preview of everything Jannik Sinner will discuss in this interview. He leaves nothing unsaid: how he sees himself on the racetrack, the pressure to be the best, goals for 2025 and, above all, how he experienced the news of his positive test.

Be No. 1

Sampras used to say: When you become No. 1 in the world, you feel like you have a target on your back and everyone wants to shoot at you. When you lose, being number 1 feels different because when you lose, you lose. If you’re No. 10 and you lose to No. 5, it’s a little different because he’s a little stronger than you. As #1, you will always be the most desirable. That’s why this sport is so great.

His tiebreak record in 2024

A lot of people talk about tiebreaks, but from my point of view it’s about how I get to the tiebreak. I do a lot of things during the set and feel what works and what doesn’t. For example, if I hit the T serve down and win the point, and then serve wide and lose it, I can decide later in the tiebreak. Experience is key. I’m the type of player that when I’m up 6-5 and my opponent is serving, I put a lot of pressure on him and become more aggressive. In the tiebreak I may end up on the mat because it has happened before, but I always try to understand what works and what doesn’t before the crucial moment. This year I took a step forward in this regard.

The differences between young Jannik and No. 1 Jannik

I don’t think I’ve changed as a person. What happened to me has not changed how I treat others or those close to me. The only thing that changes is that you now have less free time. I am someone who spends as much time as possible on work. If I want to be home tomorrow I can, but I don’t want to because my career started the day I left home at 13.5 years old. Now, at 23, I have reached the place I always dreamed of: being No. 1. Now I have to keep working and improving because the rest of the tennis players want to follow in your footsteps.

Looking ahead

I’ll keep playing for another 15 years until I’m 35-40. I hope my body can handle it. They say 15 years is a long time, but I don’t believe that. I arrived at the same hotel, in the same room, and realized that the past year had passed very quickly. We will do everything we can to keep playing for as long as my body can. I won’t waste time. It’s the right balance between improvement, working with the desire to win and the support of the people you love.

Have fun playing

Having fun is important because having fun makes you want to go out on the field even when you’re tired. You don’t always feel it during training, but you always want to play a game. I consider myself lucky because I do what I love. It started as a hobby and now it’s my job, but when I step on the court I still think of it as a hobby. When I play tennis I feel like a child. Work consists of everything else: going to the gym, going to the physical therapist, going to bed early and getting up early. These are the things that help me become better as a player and person. I see this as a positive thing and the fans give me the strength I need to give something back to them in difficult times.

The news of the positive test before the US Open

It was difficult because I couldn’t open up to many people. It was a delicate time. At first I didn’t know how to behave and what would come to light. I also didn’t know what would happen to my team. It was very difficult because I usually always have everything under control, but in this situation it was easy to lose control. One day, weeks later, I woke up and thought, “In the end, I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t know anything,” and that made me change. Whatever the judge decides or what happens in the end, I have no influence on it.

The hardest moment

It was when the news came out. It happened at a very delicate moment, just before a Grand Slam. I wanted to train on Wednesday, but the news came on Tuesday. I decided not to train to avoid the chaos that would ensue in the club. On Thursday I went to training in the afternoon because we knew a lot of people would have already left. Still, there were a lot of cameras following me. It was difficult. When I saw what other players thought, I asked myself many, many questions.

Understand many things

It was difficult for me to prepare for the US Open in this way. I am convinced that everything happens for a reason and perhaps this coincidence made me realize who is my friend and who is not. There are players who I thought weren’t my friends, or a lot of who I thought we were, and they’re not. I’m not saying it did me any good in the end, but it helped me understand a lot of things.

Effects on his mood and physical condition

Nothing had happened and there were people who knew me and asked why I was on the ground. They would say, “If you won, why are you like that?” and I would say everything was fine. There were times when I didn’t sleep the night before. For example at Wimbledon. The night before the game against Medvedev I didn’t sleep and woke up in a bad state. I appreciate people like Darren Cahill or my father. Thanks to them I feel protected and safe. Without them none of this would be possible. I don’t know how I could have overcome all of this. I’m happy with how I handled everything.

Mental strength

My job was to separate the problem and my job. I’ve always tried to be good on the pitch. I always trained and mentally prepared myself to play well. That’s why I was successful. Mental strength was the deciding factor. Games are won with the head. Everyone is playing well, but I have been winning games because of my mental strength. I understood a lot of things this year.

For 2025

Next season will be different because I’m in a position where I know I can win big tournaments. This year the goal is to finish No. 1. The goal for next year is to learn a lot physically and mentally because one small step can help me a lot. I keep the tournaments I want to win to myself, but in my head I know I can win the best tournaments in the world. This is an important step. I won two Slams this year, so we’ll see next year. I know it will be difficult to surpass what I achieved in 2024, but we’ll see what happens.

This message is an automatic translation. You can read the original messages, Sinner se abre sobre cómo vivió en silence su positivo: “Un día me desperté y pensé…”