“Physically I was not ready to compete,” Jannik Sinner reveals the real reason he chose tennis over skiing in his childhood

The 22-year-old said being a skinny boy back then made it difficult for him to compete in skiing.

“Physically I was not ready to compete,” Jannik Sinner reveals the real reason he chose tennis over skiing in his childhood

Jannik Sinner (Image via Imago)

Like tennis, Italian sensation Jannik Sinner excelled at skiing too and, as a child, he often used to compete in matches. However, he switched to tennis at the age of 12 and now has finally thrown light on this decision.

During an exclusive interview with Vogue, Sinner revealed why he chose tennis over skiing despite winning a lot of competition, including a national championship at the age of eight. The 22-year-old said being a skinny boy back then made it difficult for him to compete.

YouTube video
I won a lot when I was young at skiing, and in tennis, I never won. And then slowly I started to lose at skiing because physically I was not ready to compete. I was always quite skinny and everything.
Jannik Sinner told Vogue

Another reason for his preference for tennis is that the sport allowed him to make a lot of mistakes. After this change, he moved to Bordighera to train at Riccardo Piatti‘s academy.

FS Video
The reason why I chose tennis was, in tennis, you can make mistakes. You can lose points, but you can still win the match. In skiing, if you make one mistake, one big mistake, you cannot win.
Jannik Sinner added

Jannik Sinner has won three out of four tournaments so far this season

Jannik Sinner is having the best campaigns this year in almost all the tournaments he has played. Except for the Indian Wells (where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals), Sinner has emerged victorious in the other three tournaments he played. He previously reached the Miami finals in 2021 and 2023 but lost to Hubert Hurkacz and Daniil Medvedev respectively.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via Imago)

He has now become the first Italian player, male or female, to win the Miami Open trophy. It was also his second victory at an ATP Masters 1000 event, having previously won his first one in Toronto last year. This also made him the first Italian to bag multiple Masters 1000 trophies.

The Miami Open trophy was the Italian’s third one this year. He won his first Grand Slam trophy after overcoming Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in five sets at this year’s Australian Open. Sinner won the Rotterdam Open as well.

The 22-year-old then climbed up in the ATP Rankings by dethroning Alcaraz from the second spot. This made him the first one from his country to reach the No.2 place in the rankings.

The Australian Open winner will now compete in the upcoming Monte Carlo Masters. He is 22-1 on the season.

In case you missed it!