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Jannik Sinner's Sweet Gesture After French Open Win Left Young Fan Awestruck

Sinner took a moment to make a young fan's day after his quarterfinals victory at the French Open.

Tim Capurso

Sinner made this young fan's day.
Sinner made this young fan's day. / Screengrab Twitter @TennisChannel

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner breezed through his French Open quarterfinal match against Alexander Bublik in just one hour and 49 minutes, defeating Bublik 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 to advance to the semifinals at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year. As such, Sinner fans didn't get to see as much of the Italian tennis star as they would have liked.

But one young fan received something better than the privilege of watching the world's best player go to work. As he was walking off the court, Sinner took a moment to toss one of his two towels into the crowd, handing the second one to a young girl. He then autographed a piece of paper that was handed to him by the girl, whose reaction to receiving the towel and subsequent autograph was equal parts priceless and heartwarming.

Sinner, in just his second tournament since returning from a three-month doping suspension, has been on cruise control, as he has yet to drop a set through five matches at Roland Garros. He's become something of an internet sensation for his green-and-blue Nike outfit, which has inspired amusing memes featuring the Nintendo video game character Luigi.

Oh, and Sinner has also ensured that the sport of tennis will have a fan for life after his sweet gesture to the young girl at Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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