Tennis is unpredictable, says Sinner about defending Aus Open title

World number one Jannik Sinner has revealed his plan for defending the Australian Open title next year. The 23-year-old, who is already regarded as the best player currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, lifted his first major title earlier this year after beating 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.

That was the first of three major titles this year. After that, Sinner won 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. His last major title this year came in Turin, Italy, where he lifted the ATP Finals after once again beating Fritz in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4.

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While doing so, Sinner became only the third player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era to win the Australian, US Open and the ATP Finals in the same year after Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. He also became the first player since 1986 to win the ATP Finals without winning a single set. Sinner, after winning the title in Turin, was asked about his preparation for defending the Australian Open next year, and he had an interesting response.

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"I mean, in the same way as I did this year: I mean, keeping calm, having my connection with my team, taking it seriously but also relaxed, in both ways,” he said. “You need to have a good balance. Then we see how it goes. There are going to be many, many first times in our life. It doesn't matter if it's a Grand Slam or something else. You just have to be yourself as a player in this case and trying to understand if it works or not works. This is then going to be a problem in Melbourne. I don't know how I am going to react, how I am going to play. For sure is that I'm going to prepare it in the best possible way. Like every tournament, we try to prepare it, and then we see. I always say tennis is unpredictable. You never know what can happen. So it's going to be all good if mentally you're in a good place."