When I was a little boy I skied because in our parts the first sport is of course skiing.
Growing up in the Italian province of South Tyrol, Wimbledon winner Jannik Sinner first love was skiing before dedicating his focus to tennis full time. Sinner rose to the first ranked youth ski racer in Italy before he caught the eye of a tennis coach at 12 years old and was brought to The Piatti Tennis Center in Bordighera, Italy where he traded in his alpine skis for racket and never looked back.
Novak Djokovic also credits some of his success on the court with his lifelong love of skiing. The Serbian superstar took his first ski run well before he ever picked up a racket and openly admits that skiing is a greater passion in his life than tennis:
“I think skiing has affected the I feel flexibility of my ankles, my joints. I know a lot of players are forbidden to ski, but I don’t have that in my contract. I don’t sign a contract that conditions me not to ski.” -Novak Djokovic
Congratulations to to Sinner for his incredible performance at Wimbledon. Lets hope Sinner has a similar contract to The Serbinator and can ski a bit when the tennis season cools down. Congratulations!