Jannik Sinner fell short of becoming the youngest Miami Open presented by Itau champion in tournament history on Sunday against Hubert Hurkacz, but it wasn’t all bad news for the #NextGenATP Italian.
On Monday, the 19-year-old sensation will climb to a career-high No. 23 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, becoming just the sixth teen since 2010 to break into the Top 30.
“I control everything. I know [in] what position I am, where I’m going to be,” Sinner said. “But for me, the main focus now is what I showed in this tournament: that I improved from the last tournament. Obviously when you get a little bit of confidence, it’s a little bit easier. But you have to work hard to go deep in tournaments, especially in big tournaments.
“For me, improvement is the most important thing. I still have to talk with my team [about] why I lost, what they think, where we have to work… But I think I have to improve on every single part of my game physically, mentally, everything. Then we will see what’s coming.”
TOP 30 TEENS – Age When Cracking The Top 30 (since 2010)
| Player | Top 30 Breakthrough Date/Ranking | Age |
| Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) | 29 April 2019, No. 30 | 18 years, 8 months, 21 days |
| Denis Shapovalov (CAN) | 14 May 2018, No. 25 | 19 years, 1 month |
| Alexander Zverev (GER) | 20 June 2016, No. 27 | 19 years, 2 months |
| Bernard Tomic (AUS) | 31 May 2012, No. 28 | 19 years, 7 months, 10 days |
| Jannik Sinner (ITA) | 5 April 2021, No. 23 | 19 years, 7 months, 20 days |
| Alex de Minaur (AUS) | 7 January 2019, No. 29 | 19 years, 10 months, 19 days |
Focussing on improving doesn’t mean Sinner is not disappointed that he was unable to become the sixth teen ATP Masters 1000 champion.
“I think it has been a good week anyway,” Sinner said. “But obviously I’m not here for making finals. I’m here to win tournaments. Today was not my day, [I] accept that. But it’s going back to work and then we will see what I can do on the clay.”
The good news is that the match was not out of his control. In some key moments, Sinner made some mistakes. If the teen had been totally dominated, that would have been more concerning to the Italian. He felt the action was on his racquet.
“I think for me today is a tough day, to be honest, because losing the final here for me is not easy. But I was deciding the whole week what to do with the ball. For that, I’m happy,” Sinner said. “Today went the wrong way. Today you win or you learn. When you’re 19 and playing [the] final here, obviously it’s tough, and I wanted to win.”
Sinner admitted that he “was a bit nervous”. but the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion felt the nerves because he really wanted to lift the trophy. In the end, he simply lost to the better player on the day, and had nothing but congratulations for Hurkacz.
“I think I can learn many things today. For me now it’s tough to talk about the match,” Sinner said. “From the baseline, I was deciding what to do. Today I made a couple of mistakes in important moments, yes, but I was dictating, so I’m happy about that.
“And now [I will go] back to work and now the clay season is on, so I don’t want to waste time today. I think I can learn many things. Next week already is another tournament. [I’ve] got to be ready.”