Jannik Sinner might be only 23, but he has no intentions of leaving the sport early, as he was recently shocked by his admission about playing until his 40s.
With the advancements in medicine, especially related to sports, athletes are now able to compete at the highest level for much longer than they used to a couple of decades ago.
The Big Three are the best proof of that, as all three, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer enjoyed plenty of success well into their 30s.
A player that challenged them during their careers, Stan Wawrinka, is currently the oldest player on the ATP Tour, and the 39-year-old has no plans to retire.
However, the youngest generation of players seems to be thinking a bit differently. Dominic Thiem, 31, retired recently at the Vienna Open, and the likes of Nick Kyrgios also spoke about retiring in his early 30s.
When asked before, Carlos Alcaraz also didn’t seem to be in favor of playing for too long, but apparently, his main rival, Jannik Sinner, has different ideas.
The reigning World No. 1 recently spoke to Sky Sports, and he also discussed his desire to compete. Being 23, the Italian player stated that he would want to compete for another 15 years, which would mean that his retirement would come shortly before his 40s.
“I’m going to play another 15 years until I am 35/40 years old. Let’s hope my body can hold on. They say that 15 years is a long time, but it’s not because I arrived here in the hotel, the same hotel, same room, and I realized this year passed really fast.”
Of course, every athlete’s career is unpredictable, and Sinner could speak about it for hours. Only recently, he tested positive for a banned substance, clostebol, and even though the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared him of any wrongdoing, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the decision, and Sinner could be facing up to two years away from the Tour.
That would completely change his tennis career, as spending so long away from the sport at such a young age would certainly completely change how Sinner would approach the sport.
However, he doesn’t think about that, as the WADA’s decision is not something he can influence. On the other hand, he tries to care about the things that he can influence, such as his approach to rest and recovery.
Already early in his 20s, Sinner is trying to organize his calendar in a way that will allow him to compete for years to come, as the Big Three gave him a perfect blueprint to organize the calendar in a way that allowed them to compete for so long.
“So we are trying to make all the possible choices to continue playing tennis for as long as possible for my body, but we also can’t waste time. It’s a nice balance of improvement, working with the desire to win and having around the people you want and who you know can help you.”
