Diego Schwartzman, in the Nothing Major podcast, analyzed the amazing season of Jannik Sinner, explaining how the Italian, with his tennis, manages to intimidate his opponents. The ATP No.1 was the absolute protagonist of this 2024. The Italian tennis player won two Majors and a total of 7 titles, which allowed him to become number 1 in the ATP ranking.
“Jannik Sinner is the player who can really intimidate you with his tennis. I played against him a few times and, even when he wasn’t at the top, I wondered who he was and how he managed to hit with that power and move like that. It was scary,” said the former Argentine tennis player.
The Italian, together with Carlos Alcaraz, has started the new era of tennis post Big 3. Regarding their rivalry, Jannik said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa: “We are two very different players. I keep the pace very high, I am mentally strong. He is physically strong and tennis-wise at the moment he has something more: he plays the slice better, the volleys. But for me it is a positive fact: it means I have margins.”
Schwartzman’s words contrast, for example, with the impressions of Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who defines Jannik stupidly designed to hit. The Italian champion, who withdrew from the Paris Rolex Masters due to a suspected intestinal problem, is experiencing a golden moment on the court, but complicated off the court. Not only the controversy regarding the Clostebol doping-issue (after the WADA appeal, Jannik risks up to 2 years of disqualification – ed.), but also for some unfortunate statements following his participation in The Six Kings Slam and the controversy regarding the prize money of $6 million. Regarding this, Jannik said he did not go to Riyadh for the money, but because the strongest tennis players on the planet were there. Words that have annoyed many of his colleagues. The Italian has many fans but the media exposure related to the doping-issue and some of his unfortunate statements are making him become (perhaps unfairly) a target for criticism. Jannik, however, is responding in the way he knows best: low profile and super performances on the court.
Returning to talk about Diego Schwartzman, a few months ago, with a long post on his social profiles the Argentine tennis player officially announced his retirement from tennis. It had certainly been in the air for some time, but the results no longer up to par followed by some social posts of discouragement published on social media, led the Argentine tennis player towards the decision to go towards his tennis farewell:
“All those beautiful moments have become something that weighs on me today and it is difficult for me to continue to enjoy them fully. What a journey, so many moments that I would never have imagined. What a journey! So many moments that I would never have imagined, so many anecdotes that I would never have dreamed of, so many people I have met who have helped me grow, who have taught me so much, who have made me a player and a person much better than anyone had ever believed. Every corner of the court, every second of training, every point in the match, in every moment I was immensely happy. I lived it with such intensity that today it is difficult for me to maintain it. All those beautiful moments have become something that weighs on me today and it is difficult for me to continue to enjoy them fully. On one hand, leaving a life that has given me so much is a very difficult decision, but on the other, how happy I was playing tennis pushes me to continue wanting to keep smiling on and off the court as I have always done. However, today I sometimes struggle to find that smile again. Inside me, a competitive animal prevents me from having fun, playing and traveling as before. I want my last tournaments to be my own decision. Tennis has given me everything I have, he emphasized, and much more that I will carry with me forever. It has been a wonderful journey,” he wrote.