"Always Roger Federer"- Jannik Sinner picks Swiss as "biggest inspiration" alongside Rafael Nadal; points out qualities of legends that influenced him

Jannik Sinner recently reiterated that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were his inspirations growing up.

Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam trophy at the 2024 Australian Open. In doing so, he became only the second player outside the Big 3 (Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic) to win the title in Melbourne in the last 10 years. The Italian also became the youngest men’s player to lift the Australian Open trophy since Djokovic in 2008.

A day after his victory, Jannik Sinner attended the official champion’s photocall, where he interacted with a young hopeful. When the youngster asked him about his “biggest inspiration” growing up, the Italian said that he idolized Roger Federer. He explained that it was the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s mannerisms on and off the court that impressed him the most.

"When I was younger, I think the biggest inspiration was always Roger Federer because of the way he behaves on the courts, the way he treats people off the court," Sinner said.

The 22-year-old added that he was also influenced by 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal’s fighting spirit.

"I would say the mix of him and Rafa because, you know, also the fighting spirit of Rafa," Sinner added. "Yeah, they are great sportsmen. But there are so many."

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Jannik Sinner emulated Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with his Australian Open 2024 win

Sinner pictured at the 2024 Australian Open

Roger Federer won 20 Majors in his career. He kicked off his Grand Slam winning journey by lifting his maiden title at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, in his 17th Major main draw appearance.

The 2024 Australian Open, where Jannik Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title, was also the Italian’s 17th Grand Slam main draw appearance. On the way to the title, Sinner defeated World No. 5 Andrey Rublev, No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.

Sinner, who was two-sets-to-love down in the title clash against Medvedev, staged a remarkable comeback to seal the deal in five sets, with the final score reading 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. He thus denied the 2021 US Open champion a maiden title in Melbourne.

Rafael’s Nadal’s 2022 triumph in Melbourne was also eerily similar to Jannik Sinner’s latest one. The Spaniard, who won his second Australian Open title at the event, outlasted Medvedev in similar fashion, after going two-sets-to-love-down.

With his defeats to Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev has become the first-ever player in history to register two losses from being two-sets-to-love up in Grand Slam finals.