Jannik Sinner and Lindsay Vonn might not have much in common at first glance, but they are actually friends connected through skiing.
The American skier and Sinner spent time together on the snow as they both enjoy skiing, with the former obviously a professional at it. Sinner nearly became a professional, too, as he was one of the top-ranked skiers in Italy before fully committing to tennis.
In a recent interview with the ATP, Vonn talked about Sinner and how they connected over their love for skiing.
"I always thought it was really special that he was a former ski racer and that's obviously where we connected. He's a pretty shy guy, but he's really humble and always super kind."
"I think he has just a great perspective on the sport and I think to a degree, some of that comes from skiing. We've talked about it quite a few times."
Sinner obviously didn't go the route of skiing, and it's proving to be the right decision every day. Vonn was very happy to see him finally win a Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, as she always believed that he would do it. In a way, Sinner reminds Vonn of Roger Federer, which is a huge praise for the youngster.
"He's just a great athlete, very smart and I'm not surprised that he won Australia. I thought he would win before he did, but he's someone that's going to be around for a long time. And he really reminds me of Roger, to be honest."
Speaking about Sinner as a tennis player, Vonn highlighted the way he handles pressure as a really good strength. She even compared it to skiing, which is another sport that has a lot of pressure because one mistake could be catastrophic. That's not the case with tennis.
"If he's under pressure, and he's got to serve, he's got match point or something, the perspective is that if he misses the point, nothing is going to happen. It's not like in skiing, where if you don't take the turn right, you crash, and you could potentially hurt yourself very badly."
"So it's the kind of fearlessness that he puts everything out there no matter what the situation. And that perspective, I think, is really different from most people, most athletes, and I think he uses that to his advantage."
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