Is this Italian superstar the man to end Novak’s Melbourne reign?

Jannik Sinner was already an Italian pin-up by the time of last year’s ATP Finals, but the stars aligned to rocket his profile to the moon.

The 22-year-old with the mop of red hair – who will face Novak Djokovic in Friday’s Australian Open semi-finals – had already put together a career-best season, highlighted, to that point, by his maiden Masters 1000 title at the expense of Australia’s Alex de Minaur in Toronto.

Jannik Sinner will try to make his first grand slam final when he meets Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.Credit: AP

Sinner was disappointed with his grand slam performances, outside making the Wimbledon semi-finals, but arrived for the ATP Finals, in Turin, Italy, as the world No.4 and with expectation he could do something special.

That is precisely what happened in the weeks that followed.

He rolled through round-robin play undefeated, including a first-ever win over world No.1 Djokovic, then shocked even his coach Simone Vagnozzi with the manner of his semi-final victory over Daniil Medvedev, who had once been his nemesis.

“If he plays like this, like he played [the] last weeks, all the time, he’s going to have slams and be No.1,” Medvedev said of Sinner afterwards.

That comment echoed what Carlos Alcaraz, the 20-year-old boy wonder who has established a captivating rivalry with Sinner, had already said about the Italian star.

“He is one of the guys who are able to win a grand slam,” Alcaraz said. “I think he’s going to reach the No.1 in 2024, or he’s going to give himself the chance to reach the No.1.”

Djokovic exacted revenge in the Turin final, much to the disappointment of the record-breaking almost 6.7 million Italians, according to the ATP, who tuned in to watch Sinner’s title bid.

But just a week later, and in one of the best matches of the year, Sinner saved triple match point on his way to toppling Djokovic for a second time to propel Italy into the Davis Cup final against Australia.

Italy’s Davis Cup team, including Sinner (second from left), celebrates in Malaga.Credit: Getty Images

Sinner subsequently defeated de Minaur again to seal Italy’s first Davis Cup title since 1976. Two days later, more than 75,000 fans inside AC Milan’s San Siro Stadium chanted his name.

Brands are falling over themselves to be associated with Sinner, from Nike’s 10-year, $158 million pact, to Gucci, Rolex, Alfa Romeo, Lavazza and Head. He is even the face of cheese company Parmigiano Reggiano.

“He’s really big, and after the Davis Cup, more and more,” Vagnozzi told this masthead.

“It was a really big achievement. Beating Novak two of the last three times will give him the confidence to go on court [today] and believe. We know that beating Novak on this court is not easy, but at least we will find everything and if in case we lost, for sure, we will learn something.”

Sinner shocked the tennis world in February 2022, when he announced he was splitting with his long-time coach Riccardo Piatti and replacing him with Vagnozzi.

He had worked with Piatti since he was 13, and they reached the top 10 together, but Sinner wanted to unlock his immense potential and felt he needed someone new.

Australian master coach Darren Cahill joined Team Sinner four months later, helping form a super team with Vagnozzi that was crowned by their peers as the ATP Tour’s best last year.

“Talking in general; I think the tactical, technical part is more for Simone,” Sinner said of the coaching arrangement.

Team Sinner: Australia’s Darren Cahill and Italian Simone Vagnozzi.Credit: Getty Images

“The emotional part, talking in the right way before the match, giving confidence to me but also to the team, this is a little bit more Darren’s job.”

Vagnozzi knew when he began coaching Sinner that another coach would come aboard in the months ahead to complement him, and that ended up being Cahill, who coached Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep to No.1 rankings and grand slam titles.

“We found in Darren someone who has experience on the top level, so it’s really good,” Vagnozzi said.

“I think we find a really good balance, me and Darren. We think almost 90 per cent of the stuff the same way, so that’s really important.

“Darren is, I think, a special person because he didn’t come on the team and say, ‘OK, I’m Darren Cahill, we have to do this, this, this and this’.

“He was on the same level of the other team members, so it’s really nice to have him on the team.”

Vagnozzi admired Sinner from afar for several years before they started working together, after first noticing him at age 14 while he was coaching another player.

But looking back to the start of their partnership, Vagnozzi revealed Sinner had plenty of work to do to get where he is now, from a “not so good” serve, to adding more variety, becoming better at the net and improving his tactical intelligence.

“Everything changed after he won in Toronto,” Vagnozzi said.

“It takes confidence to win a tournament, then he went to Beijing [seven weeks later], and beat Medvedev and Alcaraz back-to-back to win another title, so it was really important for him.”

The challenge now for Sinner is replicating his red-hot form elsewhere at grand slam level, an ambition he has made a great start to in Melbourne in 2024.

He has made at least the quarter-finals at all four majors throughout his career, but remains without any silverware, a scenario the likes of Alex Zverev – another Australian Open semi-finalist this year – and Stefanos Tsitsipas know all too well.

Sinner holds aloft the Toronto Masters title after he beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur.Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Vagnozzi is confident it will be different for Sinner.

“Jannik wants to arrive on the top, and goes on court every day to improve,” Vagnozzi said.

“He’s really calm, but he has a tiger inside – he does not want to lose, not nothing. If we play cards, if we play football, if we go to go-kart – he doesn’t want to lose, and if he loses, he gets pissed [off].

“But on court, he always believes he can come back when he is down, so I think he has a really good character for a tennis player.”

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