‘He will have more enemies now,’ Italian tennis legend has some words of wisdom for new World No.1, Jannik Sinner

The veteran, who is a two-time French Open champion himself, says it’s a commendable feat but Sinner will be the player to beat now, attracting ‘enemies’.

Now that he is No. 1, everyone will want to beat Sinner. He will feel the enormous satisfaction of having succeeded, but from now on, he will only have enemies.
Nicola Pietrangeli told la Repubblica

The 90-year-old also said reaching this ranking was the easy part and the more difficult task of staying at that position is to follow.

Getting there is easy, maintaining yourself is difficult: let’s hope it stays there. Jannik is obliged to win, but he has his feet on the ground.
Nicola Pietrangeli added

Having been ranked as high as 3 in the World, Pietrangeli is sufficiently experienced to advise Sinner to look out for himself in the happy situation that he finds himself in. 

Jannik Sinner takes on former World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in semi-finals of Roland Garros

It is befitting that Sinner’s first match after being announced as the new World No.1 will be against his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz. The two brightest stars of the next gen turned pro in the same year and have had identical successes thus far. 

They have already faced off eight times against each other and three is nothing to separate the two. They are at four wins apiece, and each of these matches has been a spectacle.

They now clash on one of the biggest stages of tennis, the semifinal of the French Open, which will be played in the Philippe Chatrier arena. Neither player has made the final of the clay court Slam yet so the stakes will be high. They will be even higher for Sinner, who now has his ranking to live up to. The blockbuster match is scheduled to be played on Friday and the time is yet to be decided.