Jan 26, Jannik Sinner's reserved public persona belies a mature and steely year-old who has shown supreme mental strength to put aside a doping scandal and make another Australian Open final. Sinner's status as Italy's biggest sporting star and the new dominant force in men's tennis has only risen over the past fortnight in Melbourne. With Spain's golden boy and chief rival Carlos Alcaraz long gone he has just one more hurdle to clear, against Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final, to become back-to-back champion.
Sinner has positioned himself to join them despite being dogged by controversy after twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March. Hanging over his head is a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal against his exoneration, the global body asking for Sinner to be banned for up to two years.
He has denied knowingly doping. He's an amazing young man that's been able to put that to one side. That's the main reason he's been able to go onto the court and walk tall and have that belief and play with the confidence that he has.
Born in the northern Italian village of Innichen, a stone's throw from the Austrian border, a career in professional tennis was not a given for Sinner. But he decided to commit to tennis and at age 13 moved kilometres miles away from his family to Bordighera on the Italian Riviera to start his long march to the elite levels of the game. After a steady grind, Sinner made an emphatic statement that he was among the elite by winning his maiden Grand Slam in Melbourne last year.
He hasn't looked back, winning eight titles in , including the US Open and ATP Finals with a striking aspect his extraordinary air of calm on court. Quiet and reserved, he keeps his personal life away from the spotlight as much as possible, saying very little about his relationship with fellow tennis player Anna Kalinskaya of Russia. Seen by some as too serious and even icy, the Italian has worked to soften his image in Melbourne, even laughing during some of his interviews, a side of him rarely seen before.
