ATP Tour

Sinner's Vienna Voyage: Tracing the Italian's evolution at the ATP 500

Few tournaments chart Jannik Sinner’s evolution quite like the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The Italian paid his first visit to Vienna as an 18-year-old wild card in 2019, when he made his maiden ATP 500 main-draw appearance. Six years later, Sinner returns to Vienna for his sixth appearance and as a former champion, having lifted the trophy in 2023.

Flashback to 2019 and Sinner’s Vienna outing marked an important milestone in his teenage breakthrough. Beyond the viral moment of him casually munching on a carrot during a changeover, Sinner notched a first-round win over respected veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber — his seventh tour-level victory — to secure his place in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings.

Sinner arrived in Austria following a semi-final run at the ATP 250 in Antwerp and then after Vienna, he won the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF and an ATP Challenger Tour event in Ortisei, Italy.

Upon returning to Vienna in 2020, Sinner's stay would be short as a leg injury forced his retirement in the second round. But he came back stronger in 2021, advancing to the semi-finals. That run propelled him into the Top 10, just two years removed from reaching the Top 100 at the same tournament.

Sinner's fifth Vienna appearance proved to be his finest. Sinner stormed through the draw to lift the trophy, defeating four players who have all spent time inside the Top 10: Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev. At the time, Rublev and Medvedev were both Top 5 players.

Sinner’s championship-match victory against top-seeded Medvedev was a three-hour, six-minute thriller. It marked Sinner’s second win against Medvedev, who won their first six meetings. Since then, Sinner has turned the rivalry on its head, winning eight of their past nine encounters to take an 8-7 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Watch Highlights Of Sinner’s 2023 Vienna Final Win vs. Medvedev:

Weeks after toppling Medvedev in Vienna, Sinner repeated that feat in the Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals to earn a spot in the Turin title match. Novak Djokovic ultimately denied Sinner in the final, during which the Serbian claimed a record-breaking seventh title at the season finale.

Now a 21-time tour-level titlist with more than 300 career wins and 65 weeks spent as World No. 1, Sinner has come a long way since his 2019 Vienna debut. With each visit, Sinner’s time in Austria's capital city serves as an opportunity to reflect on his journey. He started on the ATP Tour as a fast-rising teenager making his mark and has grown into one of the sport’s established superstars.

Sinner is the top seed in Vienna, with fellow Top 10 stars Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti also in action. Sinner, 43-6 on the season according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, is seeking his fourth title of the year. He triumphed at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and in Beijing.