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Red curls that are kept in check by a baseball cap, an impish grin, hard-hitting strokes – we are talking about a Sesto native who is making waves. Jannik Sinner is celebrated world-wide as a star of the tennis scene, is a regular in international sports reports and is ascending the world rankings match by match with typical coolness. So it is high time that we put a face to the name of this professional sportsman “back home”. Someone who grew up here, who took his first steps here and hit his first balls – and who then moved away so that he could play. Interviewers and sports commentators describe him as down-to-earth, modest and eager to learn. It is clear from everything that he has to say that his head has not been turned by the hype. The tennis pro talks about his games, goals and successes in a friendly and cheerful manner. It has long been rumoured that “Sinner the Winner” did not always dream of a career as a tennis star – on the contrary, as a child it looked as if he would one day make his mark as an international skier. Like most Sesto residents, he first hit the ski slopes at the age of three, with the slight difference that just a few years later he was already among Italy’s best skiers. In those days he only played tennis with his father. Just for fun. “It’s like this with skiing: if you are good in South Tyrol, then you are good in the whole of Italy and even worldwide. With tennis, it is actually the complete opposite,” Sinner once explained in an interview. At the tender age of 14 he decided to take the “rockier” path after all, which led to the tennis academy in Bordighera, almost 700 km away. That, too, was a characteristic trait of the focussed Sesto native. After all, everyone can take the easy road. His fromer coach, Riccardo Piatti, says of him: “He has the shots, but above all, he has the mind.” Mental strength, extreme self-discipline and the desire to keep on getting better. He takes inspiration from the very best, those who have made it to the top, to the top ten in the world. Perhaps that is the secret of his success. “For me it is important to understand how the best players in the world think. Djokovic, Nadal and the other top players are totally normal people who you can talk to. They know where they want to be.” It is clear where Sinner wants to be too. The tennis world is getting to see him pumping his fist more and more often… and Sesto is keeping a close watch!