(VIDEO): Jannik Sinner meets young fan with same hair colour ahead of Cincinnati Open opener

Italy’s tennis star Jannik Sinner met an exciting young fan during the Cincinnati Open. The 22-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.

Sinner is currently in Cincinnati, where he is getting ready to begin his campaign at the ATP 1000 event with the round of 32 match against America’s Alex Michelsen on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the reigning world number one arrived at the court for some practice ahead of the all-important fixture and was greeted by some exciting fans.

Out of those, one fan was extremely excited to meet his favourite star. He shouted, “Jannik, I have the same colour hair! Support the system!” His voice received instant attention from Sinner, who shook hands with the youngster, who was clearly over the moon after shaking hands with one of the big-name players in men’s tennis.

Sinner is coming into the competition after a rather disappointing outing in the Canadian Open, where he was knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Russia’s Andrey Rublev with a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. During the contest, the world number one clearly struggled with fitness concerns, and it is not clear whether he has completely recovered from a hip injury he sustained earlier this year.

Sinner is going through a fabulous season, but he has struggled with fitness problems lately. It was because of this that he ended up withdrawing from the Paris Olympics just days before the mega-event. The San Candido-born star will be hoping to improve his record this year at the mega-event after having a disappointing outing in the last edition. In 2023, Sinner was knocked out of the competition after losing in the round of 32 to Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6.