World number one
Jannik Sinner has responded to Britain’s young
tennis star
Jack Draper after he commented that the biggest weakness of the young
Italian is that he is ‘too nice’. The 23-year-old is already regarded as one of
the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, along
with Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
On the other hand, Draper has also been regarded as one of
the most talented players currently playing in men’s tennis. He also has the
advantage of being a left-hander. Both players faced each other in the semifinal
of the
US Open, where Sinner came out on top in straight sets with a score of
7-5, 7-6, 6-2. Talking after the match, the Sutton-born was asked what is the
biggest weakness of the Italian, to which he responded by stating that he is ‘too nice’.
Sinner, while talking to the media, responded to that comment
by stating that it is not ‘true’. The reigning world number one highlighted the
reason which led Draper to say that both are good friends off the court and
even played as a doubles pair in the past as well.
“No, that's not true,” said the San Candido-born. “We know
each other very well. We had a chance to play doubles together. We give
ourselves sometimes some tactical, you know, for example, when he has to play
against certain players, you know, sometimes if he asks me, I give him couple
of things trying to play against. Obviously, I know I'm righty and he's lefty,
so it's completely different. Yeah, I feel like we are both very nice off the
court. We are good friends. On the court, then we try to play some good tennis,
and I think that's also what the crowd wants to see. So it's good.”
Sinner, who will be playing in his first-ever US Open final,
will face America’s Taylor Fritz on Sunday. The 26-year-old defeated fellow
countryman Frances Tiafoe in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 7-5, 4-6,
6-4, 6-1.