If it is true that behind a great champion there is often a great family, this includes not only the parents of Sinner, thanked by Jannik immediately after winning the final in Australia, but also his brother Mark.
Who is Jannik's brother?
Mark Sinner was born in Russia in 1998, in Rostov on Don, and was adopted by the Sinner family when he was 9 months old, two years before Jannik was born in 2001.
Today he is a fire brigade instructor in Vilpiano, near Bolzano, in South Tyrol, the job he always wanted to do.
Where he watched the final
Many people expected to see Mark in the stands cheering for his brother on Sunday morning, with whom he has a very strong bond. This was not the case: the boy was in fact busy in Italy as the head of health safety for the Women's Alpine Skiing World Cup in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Mark's morning was quite eventful, as there were several falls by the athletes, particularly that of Valerie Grenier in the Super-G on Sunday: it was therefore impossible to watch almost all of the final played by Jannik. We can imagine him occasionally checking social media, hoping that his brother could make a comeback after losing the first two sets to Medvedev.
The match lasted until lunchtime in Italy, and even beyond, allowing Mark to at least see the fifth set of the final, the most exciting one, the one that made Jannik Sinner a part of history. A colleague of Mark's said that in order to watch his brother's triumph, once the rescues were over, they took refuge in a container.
The relationship with Jannik
Last November, to the Alto Adige newspaper, Mark said: 'the relationship with Jannik is normal, I guess like most brothers. We used to fight, but we made up immediately. We played tennis, I at least tried. For a few years I was able to hold my own, then he took off and it was impossible to even exchange. On the court, as off, he has always been a very calm boy. Like mom and dad for that matter. I am happy with the results that Jannik is achieving, I follow him every day. But I have my life and it has remained the same as before. Popularity has not changed us at all'.
He further added: 'I'm used to not seeing him at home, but when he comes back it's beautiful: we go for walks in the mountains, with my friends and his, all local people. And when we can we also play golf. Every week of the year is busy with training and tournaments, so we try to keep each other updated almost daily'.
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