Jannik Sinner becomes the new world number one after Djokovic's withdrawal in Paris

Jannik Sinner was playing in the quarter-finals in Paris with Grigor Dimitrov, then defeated in three sets, and he did not know he had become world number one: Nole Djokovic had just announced his forfeit after yesterday's miracle against Cerundolo, defeated in the fifth with a bum knee (and the marathon two days earlier against Lorenzo Musetti, in a match that ended after three in the morning). The meniscus injury revealed by the MRI did not allow the Serb to continue, paving the way for Ruud in the semifinals.

After the victory against the Bulgarian, Sinner learned in the customary post-match interview of his newly won record, greeted by the roar of the Paris crowd. An unimaginable result until a year ago. "What can I say? - he commented with his simplicity - It's everyone's dream. At the same time, seeing Novak forfeit is a disappointment, I wish him a speedy recovery. Thanks to my team, all this would be impossible without them. And also without you,' he told the emotional audience, adding that 'it is a special moment, I am happy to share it with all those who are experiencing it from home'.

Meanwhile, Djokovic, according to L'Equipe, is having surgery on his meniscus, which implies a three-week stop: he will miss Wimbledon and will aim to play in the Olympics to try to win the gold medal, the only goal he lacks.

Sinner is not even 23 years old (he turns 16 on 16 August) and is at the top of world tennis after an extraordinary journey, which began in 2018, when he was 16 years old and in February he took home his first Atp point, beating India's Aryan Goveas in an Itf tournament in Sharm el-Sheikh: he was ranked 1,592nd. That he could move up quickly was clear even then; by Christmas he had climbed to 551st position. Less than a year passed and in October 2019 he advanced to the world's top 100. It was a quarter-final win at Roland Garros in 2020 that gave him entry into the top 50. With his first ATP title in Sofia in November of the same year (in the final against Vasek Pospisil), and then with his first Masters 1000 final in Miami in '21 (lost to Hubert Hurckarcz), he leapt to number 23. In the autumn came the thrill of the top ten: after the semi-final in Vienna, and the loss to Frances Tiafoe, Sinner was number 9.

In 2022 (when he left Riccardo Piatti for Simone Vagnozzi), it was a season of adjustment, then began an unstoppable ride from mid-2023: the second final lost in Miami was the prelude to a string of victories that took him to the semifinals at Wimbledon, to his first success in a Masters 1000 in Toronto (and sixth place in the rankings), then in the 500 in Beijing (and fourth place) and Vienna. The exploit of the Atp Finals, where he lost in the final to the usual Djokovic (beaten, however, in the round), anticipated the one in the Davis Cup: it was he who dragged Italy to victory, the second in history after the one in Chile in '76. The year 2024 opened with a goal never achieved by any Italian: success at the Australian Open in an epic final against Medvedev, in which Sinner was two sets to nil down. On 19 February, exactly six years after his first Atp points, Jannik is number 3 in the world, the first Italian to reach this position after the tournament he won in Rotterdam. In the history of our tennis, only Nicola Pietrangeli had managed this. On 1 April, with his triumph at the Masters 1000 in Miami, Sinner was second, behind Djokovic. A phase that now belongs to the past. The semi-final at the Roland Garros on Friday 7 June against Carlos Alcaraz (who eliminated Stefanos Tsitsipas) is played with a new awareness, that of the number one.