Jannik Sinner has been compared to the 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras by the former French Open winner Nicola Pietrangeli.
Sinner's rise has been one of the most significant stories of the 2024 season. He had not reached a Grand Slam final before this year's Australian Open but became a worldwide star after the season's opening Grand Slam.
The 23-year-old recovered from two sets down in the final against Daniil Medvedev to win his maiden Grand Slam title. He answered questions about his physical and mental strength with that triumph.
Sinner became the world No. 1 during the French Open, a position he has held ever since. The Italian continued his lead in the latest ATP rankings, comfortably ahead of Alexander Zverev in second.
However, Sinner faced adversity when the news of his two positive tests for the banned substance clostebol during March's Indian Wells Open became public, shocking tennis fans worldwide.
It is essential to note that Sinner was cleared of any wrongdoing and avoided a ban after the ITIA's five-month investigation was completed. However, his prize money and ranking points from the Indian Wells Open were stripped.
Still, it was a stressful period for Sinner. The news was made public a few days before the start of the US Open, and few fans or analysts thought the Italian could challenge at Flushing Meadows after what he went through.
Sinner confounded those expectations by winning the US Open, beating Taylor Fritz in a one-sided final. The world No. 1 only dropped two sets during his seven matches in New York.
That triumph through adversity showed Sinner's mental strength, and Pietrangeli is impressed with his compatriot's mentality. He compared him to Rod Laver and Sampras in his comments.
"What do you want me to say, my friend Laver was someone like that: the more complicated the situation got, the more he was able to get out of trouble."
"I understand it may be a cumbersome comparison, Rod at the moment remains something unattainable, but Jannik has the mental strength of the greatest champions. And in some ways he reminds me of Sampras."
Pietrangeli also believes Sinner is the strongest player in the world. The 91-year-old does not think any player aside from Carlos Alcaraz will be able to challenge the US Open champion in the coming years.
"Sinner is now the strongest of all, the numbers and the level of his tennis show it, in my opinion when he is well he is unbeatable. Perhaps only Carlos Alcaraz can bother him, for the others I don’t see any chance."
The 1959 and 1960 French Open champion wishes he could have watched Sinner compete against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer in their primes. He also predicted a duel would occur at the most significant tournaments between Sinner and Alcaraz.
"In the next few years I foresee a duel with the Spaniard to win the most important tournaments. The others are far from their level, especially now that [Novak] Djokovic, due to his age, is inevitably declining. I would have liked to see Sinner with the Big Three at their best, we would have seen some great things."