Jannik Sinner Defends His Italian Heritage With the Perfect Answer

Jannik Sinner was asked about tennis fans questioning his Italian heritage and gave an incredible answer.

Jannik Sinner addressed criticism of his Italian heritage. | IMAGO / Photo Players Images

Jannik Sinner is fresh off winning the Rolex Paris Masters and has a few days to prepare for the 2025 ATP Finals. Sinner is focused on overcoming the long odds to dethrone Carlos Alcaraz as the year-end number one.

Regardless of how the ATP Finals play out in Turin, the Italian superstar is ending his season after the tournament. After leading Italy to victory in the last two Davis Cup tournaments, Sinner is sitting this year out to prepare for the 2026 ATP season.

Sinner's decision drew enormous backlash in Italian media and reopened a debate about his heritage. Sinner grew up in South Tyrol, a German-speaking region of Northern Italy.

Sinner has addressed his Italian heritage multiple times in the past, but gave a strong defense in an interview with Sky Sports. He even masterfully turned his answer into a call for action for Italian sports.

Jannik Sinner represented Italy at the 2024 Davis Cup. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The question was, "Do you ever think that if you were born 50 kms more in the south of Italy, you would receive less criticism about being Italian or not?"

"This is a question to which I don't know how to respond. I don't know. It's like saying, since today it's sunny, it won't rain. But I'm proud to be Italian, I'm very happy to be born in Italy and not in Austria or anywhere else," replied Sinner.

He continued, "Because like I always said, and I say it with full honesty, this country deserves much more than what I'm doing: we have infrastructures, coaches, players, so many different mentalities, which are also our strength.

Some say Alto Adige is different, some say Sicily is totally different… but we are lucky for it, in my opinion. We have everything to compete with the bests in the world, we need to stay united, to love each other and give each other strength to win more trophies and have more pride, because Italy deserves it."

Jannik Sinner and Team Italy at the 2024 Davis Cup. | IMAGO / ABACAPRESS

Sinner is the ATP World No. 1 and has a record of 53-6 with five titles on the season, an incredible achievement after missing three months earlier this year. Unfortunately for Italian tennis fans, the 24-year-old is not willing to extend his 2025 campaign any longer.

The ATP Finals runs from November 9-16, and fans can expect a thrilling end to the year. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.