ATP Tour

Sinner: 'I would have never imagined to stand here as the player I am'

Even Jannik Sinner has surprised himself by what he has been able to achieve.

After advancing to the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday — when he earned a record 32nd consecutive ATP Masters 1000 match win — a reflective Sinner spoke on his already historic career.

“I would have never imagined to stand here as the player what I'm right now,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference. “Back in the days when I was younger, I never thought I would arrive to such a high level of tennis.”

Raised in the mountains of northern Italy, the 24-year-old is now two wins shy of triumphing at his home ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. Should Sinner claim the Rome trophy, he would become the second player to complete the Career Golden Masters, alongside Novak Djokovic.

Such dominance makes it easy to forget that Sinner had yet to win a clay-court tournament above ATP 250 level until this year.

“I think last year I also played great clay-court tennis. Made final here. Made final in Paris,” said Sinner, who won Monte-Carlo and Madrid this season. “It has been an incredible run last year. This year is the first time I've won something big on clay. But this is also the confidence of the process of what we are trying to produce year after year. Also physically I'm getting stronger. I think [the improvements are] a mix of everything.”

Sinner, the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, has not dropped a set since his first-round match in Madrid. By defeating Andrey Rublev in the last eight Thursday, the top seed managed to extend that streak to 20 consecutive sets, despite landing just 39 per cent of his first serves (12/31) in the second set.

“It's normal that one day in the tournament you are slightly tired,” Sinner said of his abnormally low first-serve percentage. “I played a lot also. It has been very long days for me. But I'm happy how I ended the situation.”

Sinner boasts a 34-2 season record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and will look to improve upon that mark against seventh seed Daniil Medvedev or lucky loser Martin Landaluce in the semi-finals.