Sinner happy with year-end No. 1, keen for more: 'It's not finished yet'

Jannik Sinner clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours on Saturday by reaching the Rolex Shanghai Masters final. It is a big moment for the 23-year-old, but he made clear he will not rest on his laurels.

“’It’s a good feeling. I'm very happy to achieve this. It was an amazing season for me, and it's not finished yet,” Sinner said. “Tomorrow is a great final ahead, first time here in Shanghai, so I'm looking forward to it, and then we [will] see how it goes. Hopefully it's going to be a good match.”

Sinner will face four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic, who will try to claim his 100th tour-level title in the match. But the Italian will take confidence knowing he will finish the year as the No. 1 player in the world no matter what happens in the final weeks of the season.

“Being No. 1 in the world at the end of the year, it was only a dream just to become No. 1. Now finishing it, it's also a different feeling,” Sinner said. “But now during the tournament it's a bit different, so I'm just trying to be focused for tomorrow, and then we [will] see how it goes.”

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Could Sinner have imagined this? “Not really,” he said. The San Candido native began 2024 as World No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings and has focused on staying in the moment to rise to the top of the sport.

“You cannot predict the future in one way. For me, I always try to improve as a player. For me it also depends how you start a season. If you start it in a good way like I did, winning Australia, then you have much more confidence throughout the whole season,” Sinner said of his Australian Open triumph. “The season is going amazingly, I just try to stay there every match I play, trying to find a solution somehow. That's it.

“I think it's very tough to predict the future in any case, so I'm just trying to enjoy this moment, and also trying to improve daily, and then we [will] see how it goes.”

List of active players to reach ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF ?

Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner

End of list.#PIF | #ATPRankings | #partner pic.twitter.com/zuKvRWQYYV

Although Sinner is the first Italian to finish year-end No. 1, he is not surprised that someone from his country could do it.

“I always look on my side what I have to do, and what I try to achieve. I think it's very nice for Italy because, Italy, it's a very nice country. We have everything we need. We have amazing food, we have everything," Sinner said. “We have mountains, we have sea, we have different mentalities coming from every part of Italy, it's just nice.

“I’m very proud to be Italian, and just bringing back something for the fans, and then they are giving me so much love, so I'm happy to be in that position. But there is not only me, we are so many great players, so many we have in Top 100, Top 200. It’s amazing that the tennis is growing, and hopefully it can grow even bigger.”

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As happy as Sinner is with what he has accomplished this season, he has no intention of slowing down. The top seed will try to claim his first Shanghai title on Sunday in front of a crowd he enjoys.

“It’s an amazing atmosphere… It's nice to be part of any encounter,” Sinner said. “The fans here, you can feel the love they give to you. It's a different culture, so it's also nice to see this.

“I enjoy it, it's amazing. It's also a Masters event, a very big tournament. I love to play here, to be on site, it's very nice. It’s for sure one of the best tournaments we have throughout the year, so I'm very happy and glad to have a chance to play here my first final.”

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