There is Sofia the little girl who cheerfully snubs Danil Medvedev’s outstretched hand in the semi-final, upon entering the field in the semi-final, to wait and grab Jannik Sinner’s hand and then leap, over the moon at the conquest, all the way to the net. There is the puppy who, after entering the field, asks the champion: “Can I hug you?”. There is the other little girl, who after Darderi’s apologies that he had forgotten her, had the honor of tossing the coin that started the final.
The oversized balls, t-shirts, notebooks and caps signed on the sidelines are now uncountable, but the crowds at the Internazionali in Rome, especially under 14s but not only, have something truly unique for Jannik, which even surpasses the double victory at the ATP finals in Turin. Even mum and dad Sinner in Rome had their difficulties in getting away, despite being so reserved.
And the feeling with the little ones seems mutual: Jannik never fails to give a pat on the head to the kids who accompany him on the pitch and it’s also nice that the first thought in the champion’s thanks at the end of the tournament was for the ball boys. And after the final, speaking of the children, Jannik said: «Sometimes we tennis players, it’s bad to say, but we don’t realize how lucky we are. Here are the kids who have problems, but they are so happy with small gestures. This changes your point of view a bit, you’re just happy to be on the pitch and put on a show, there are a lot of people, the stadium is full, there is no more beautiful place to play. Maybe these are the moments that touch me the most, because you have physical contact with kids. Today for example there was a really small one, I had to go slowly on the pitch, but it was beautiful, a moment that also makes me very happy: they are small gestures that they will keep forever and it doesn’t cost us anything, in fact they also give us wonderful sensations and therefore the whole week was very beautiful from this point of view”.
And precisely for children, Jannik Sinner opened a Foundation in 2025 with the aim of helping children who struggle to access sport and education: “We support development, every child should have the opportunity to practice sport” is the mission with which the foundation presents itself to the world. «The idea behind it is very simple: I want to give something back» – explained Jannik Sinner at the time of the launch – «Children are our future and everything we do in the foundation is aimed at helping them. We will focus on two main areas: sports development and children’s education. It’s always been something I’ve aspired to do: trying to help, especially the little ones, because for me children are our future. I hope to be able to show them some small path or path in which they can feel at ease, and so they can make their dreams come true. With this foundation, we would like to offer young people a great opportunity, in the hope that they can truly achieve their goals.”
The increasing numbers say that in tennis there is a capital of sporting passion to be invested for the future, and judging by the white voices that dominated the crowd when after the final in Rome Sinner appeared on the “bridge” with the Italian International Cup, there is an indication of where that future is going and it seems very clear: the children like Jannik a lot and they don’t miss an opportunity to make him feel it.
