Jannik Sinner: Italy's David Beckham of tennis

Former world number one Andy Roddick believes that Italy’s Jannik Sinner enjoys similar popularity to that of former England footballer David Beckham. The 23-year-old is regarded as the best player currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category. Former world number one Roddick has recently equated Sinner’s popularity in Italy similar to what former England footballer Beckham enjoyed during his playing days in his country.

"Apparently he's like David Beckham level star, fame, chaos, circus in Italy. Jim Courier was saying, and I'll get the numbers wrong but just focus on the sentiment, but Sunday night, the Italian football league, I don't know who was playing, but normally that's a massive rating," said Roddick. "The football rated like a 1.3 million and Jannik Sinner's opening night did a bigger number in Italy than the US Open did. He did like 3 million, he doubled up the football rating. First round, not like the final. Massive star there, like he goes to dinner and it's like Taylor Swift.”

Sinner had a fabulous season. The reigning world number one lifted three major titles. He started the year with the Australian Open title, which was his first Grand Slam. He defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. He then lifted the US Open after beating America’s Taylor Fritz in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Sinner’s last major title came while playing on home soil in front of thousands of supporters as he defeated Fritz in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. He became only the third player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category after Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Switzerland’s Roger Federer to win the Australian, US Open and the ATP Finals in the same year.