"The hard-court season until now has been very good."
Jannik Sinner couldn't help but laugh at his understatement after winning his third title of 2024 at the Miami Open. The Italian is now 22-1 this season with trophies at the Australian Open and Rotterdam in addition to his second ATP Masters 1000 crown.
His lone loss of the year came in the Indian Wells semifinals to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. But by outclassing the resurgent Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 6-1, in Sunday's Miami final, the Italian also gained a measure of revenge for that desert defeat to his friend and rival.
Behind his 13th tour-level title, Sinner moved ahead of Alcaraz to a new career-high ATP ranking of world No. 2. The highest-ranked Italian man since the merit-based system started in 1973, Sinner has also won more titles than any man from his nation in the Open Era.
"Being No. 2, it's an amazing feeling. I never thought [I would] come to this point," he said after becoming the first Italian Miami champ and the first Italian with multiple ATP Masters 1000 titles.
"I'm very happy to be in this position. I'm just enjoying every moment. These are special days winning a tournament. Doesn't matter what kind of tournament, it's a special day. It means a lot to me."
While Sinner has leapfrogged Alcaraz, he still trails world No. 1 Novak Djokovic by 1,015 ranking points. Currently sandwiched between the past two US Open champions, the Italian has a golden opportunity to rise to the top by the end of the clay-court season. While Djokovic will be defending points 2,000 points as the reigning Roland Garros champ, Sinner's biggest haul from the 2023 clay swing was 400 points from his Monte Carlo semifinal showing.
The 22-year-old has been all but unstoppable since late last season on hard courts, but thinks he will need to be even better to continue his run of success on the clay.
"I have a great team behind me who pushes me. We know what we have to improve," he said. "Now the clay season is coming, so usually I struggle there. Let's see what I can do this year."
On the topic of improvements, Sinner highlighted his increased physicality and bolstered serve as keys to his current form. Mentally, he's also learned how to enjoy his victories in moderation, keeping his focus on the work necessary to return to the winner's circle.
"When you win, you realize that it's really special... but it's a moment. You live this moment, and then you're happy and then you fly to Cincinnati and the day after you play again," he explained, using his 2023 Toronto title as an example.
"So there is not so much time to enjoy this. That's what I feel like that I have improved a lot. After Australia, I live these moments, three or four days, and then after, I get back to work. It was the same in Rotterdam and it's the same here, because you don't have time to enjoy.
"So this is also how I am, because maybe there are players who enjoy a little bit for longer. Me, I know that I don't have so much time to prepare for Monaco, so this is now obviously the next goal, trying to get confident with the clay."
The Italian has already mapped out his transition to the European clay, targeting Thursday for his first hitting session in Monte Carlo. Beyond that, he has Rome and Roland Garros circled as his most important events on the surface.
Crucially, while being a consummate professional and keeping an intense attention to detail, Sinner remains relaxed on and off the court.
"He's a normal 22-year-old kid," said coach Darren Cahill. "There's a lot to learn from him, a lot of good to learn from both him and Carlos. I think they're very similar in many, many ways.
"That's why I think tennis is in great hands at the moment with the likes of those two and many other players coming through that are going to carry the torch [after] a generation we have been so fortunate to sit through the last 20 years. It's important to have these types of sports people coming through."
