Riccardo Piatti: 'Jannik Sinner should train with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal'

Riccardo Piatti has had a chance to work with some of the most talented players over the last couple of decades, guiding them towards notable titles and high ranking positions. Ricardo has been working with a pure diamond recently, leading his young compatriot Jannik Sinner into the top-80 and making big plans for the future of this incredible talent from Northern Italy. The experienced coach would love to see Jannik practicing more with the legends like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, believing that would be the best learning curve for the upcoming star, as he could learn a lot from the greatest competitors of all time. Jannik had the opportunity to share the practice court with Roger and Rafa this year in Melbourne, waiting for another chance to work with the Spaniard and his coach Carlos Moya. An 18-year-old Sinner is the youngest player in the top-100 and one of only five U18 players who had finished in the year-end top-80 since 2000, joining Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov.

Jannik went to Riccardo Piatti's Academy at the age of 12, choosing tennis over skiing and making a professional debut in 2018, playing the first Futures final that year. The youngster conquered the first Challenger crown on an indoor court at home in Bergamo in February last year, dropping only 14 games in the final three encounters and introducing himself to our sport! It was the first Challenger crown for 2001 generation and Jannik didn't stop there, lifting the trophy at Trento Futures in the following week to extend the winning streak.

After a well-deserved rest, Sinner claimed another Futures title on clay to deliver 16 straight pro victories at the age of 17!

The Italian grabbed his first ATP win in Budapest at the end of April as a qualifier and received a wild card at home Masters 1000 event in Rome, prevailing over Steve Johnson to become the first player of his generation with a win at the main level. A couple of months later, Jannik clinched another Challenger title in Lexington and qualified for the US Open, losing to Stan Wawrinka in four sets in the first round. Sinner secured the place in the top-100 after the semi-final run in Antwerp and one win in Vienna, gaining confidence ahead of the Next Gen Finals in Milan. Gathering boost from the home crowd, Jannik ousted the better-ranked and more experienced rivals to become the third champion after Hyeon Chung and Stefanos Tsitsipas, proving his quality and cementing his status of one of the young guns to beat. A week later, Sinner completed the season in Ortisei, producing another stellar ride on an indoor court to celebrate the third Challenger title and book the place in the top-80. Jannik has made a slow start of the current season, reaching the quarter-final in Rotterdam and waiting for the restart in August to present his vast talent and abilities once again. 

"Jannik lives for tennis; it's not a burden for him. His commitment is to become a great star in the future, but he still has a lot of work to do. He is the strongest young player I have ever trained," said Riccardo Piatti. "We don't wait for congratulations to Jannik from the big players. My main goal is to contribute to his growth by giving him a chance to train with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. They are blessed with talent, but they also have a mental approach that is completely different from other players; I want Jannik to learn from these big stars. Before the restart of the season, Sinner trained with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexei Popyrin, two young players that Sinner will often meet in the future. He also worked with Alexander Zverev and Stan Wawrinka in Monte Carlo." 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NshCUe