Jannik Sinner, Mats Wilander’s prediction.

Wilander agrees with McEnroe.

Former tennis player and seven-time Grand Slam tournament winner Mats Wilander has spoken out, interviewed by Repubblica. The Swede, as recently stated by John McEnroe, believes strongly in the potential of Jannik Sinner.

“I agree with McEnroe, I think Sinner will win a few Slams but the Italians should not put pressure on him because it becomes hard then for such a young tennis player,” explained the winner, in 1988, of the U.S. Open, which on the evening of Tuesday, August 30, will see the debut of the South Tyrolean tennis player, against German Daniel Altmaier.

“On grass at Wimbledon he played very well, he was beating Djokovic on his worst surface and I think he can play well anywhere. With the new coach he has changed his mentality and I think he can do really well,” concluded the former champion, giving credit to Sinner for what he showed in the third Slam of the year and stressing the importance of the new coach.

Jannik Sinner, born in San Candido on August 16, 2001, despite having achieved excellent results in skiing since childhood, decided at the age of 13 to devote himself exclusively to tennis, moving to Bordighera, at the court of Riccardo Piatti. A choice that will prove successful, as Sinner is the youngest Italian tennis player ever to enter the top 100 (October 2019) and to win an Atp title in the Open era (Sofia 2020). In addition, along with Matteo Berrettini, Jannik is the only Italian tennis player to have reached at least the round of 16 in all four Slams. For him, 2022 was the breakthrough year: he left Piatti to rely on Vagnozzi.