Jannik Sinner, Tania Cagnotto respond to Mauro Mazza

Jannik Sinner’s crowd in Rome. The Italian tennis player, described as “Italian but not too much” a few weeks ago by Mauro Mazza, instead made the floor with applause, ovations, autographs and selfies from the fans present at the Foto Italico, who hailed their hero.

Just on the occasion of the Internazionali d’Italia, the words of Italian diver Tania Cagnotto, who in an interview a year ago with La Stampa had sung the praises of the world number one, are back in the news: “Jannik is a friend of the family: a simple guy, he doesn’t make you weigh anything. His head makes him special, how he administers his resources.”

On the Blue’s “coolness”: “His worries he converts into finding a solution: we are South Tyrolean, educated to be hard-working, coolness is taught to us as an added value. He cares so much about protecting what is left of his private life, you risk big if you surround yourself with the wrong people.”

“I have never experienced the reality of Sinner, yet in my very small way I have anchored myself to my roots, to my friends in Bolzano.”

Sinner at a press conference in Rome wanted to calmly but just as firmly reject the label of “robotic” player that is sometimes sewn onto him. “Of course I have fun,” he said, smiling, “but I am also doing everything to become the best tennis player I can be for myself. The sacrifices are many, every day I choose to be a little bit stronger than the previous one: that’s always been my mentality, the way I set up my life.”

“Then it’s clear that there are times when I take my space and do what I like, because in the end you only live once: I’m 24 years old and it’s also right to have fun.” And on the days leading up to practice, he added, “Maybe I show it a little less, but you don’t really know what I’m like off the course. In these two days I played golf and soccer, that’s my fun. The main goal, however, was to rest.”