He is the first Italian to achieve this feat
Jannik Sinner was honored Monday for winning the year-end No. 1 award, an honor presented by PIF. The ceremony took place in front of a raucous Italian crowd at the Inalpi Arena at the Nitto ATP Finals.
“It’s a nice feeling, [es] special to share these kinds of moments here in Italy with the crowd,” Sinner said after a memorable ceremony in which he received the award from ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi, former World No. 1 Boris Becker and the director of corporate brand and strategic advice at PIF Mohamed Alsayyad. “This wouldn’t be possible without all the people I have around me and especially these types of people that I want to keep forever, because there has been a journey from the beginning.”
Sinner’s tennis team and his family, including his parents, were in the crowd. The people of Turin roared with approval as the home favorite showed the trophy to the fans.
“I just heard my mom was crying, which is a really nice thing,” Sinner said. “Only they know how many sacrifices we made as a family when I was around 13 years old.”
“Now I am, perhaps, with the most special trophy I have.”
On June 10, Sinner became the first man or woman from his country to reach world number one in singles since computerized rankings were introduced in 1973. He has not relinquished his place since.
The 23-year-old is the 19th player to earn year-end number one honors and only the fourth active player to do so. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are the others.
“It’s a big competition between this and the Grand Slams,” Sinner said. “This is a very consistent trophy. You have to play very consistent tennis for a year, so this is definitely a very, very difficult trophy to obtain.”
The ceremony coincided with the launch of the pioneering ‘ATP No. 1 Club’, which will honor all current and former world No. 1 players in one place for their notable efforts to reach the top of the PIF ATP Rankings.
Source: https://www.nittoatpfinals.com/es/news/sinner-year-end-no-1-2024-ceremony