In October 2023, when Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev in a final that lasted more than three hours and won the Vienna Open (ATP 500) – his 10th professional title to date – he raised the trophy next to his parents.

It was a rare occasion for fans to see father Hanspeter and mother Siglinde watch Jannik fight. The last time was at the Next Gen Finals in Milan in 2019.

Earlier this year, after winning the Australian Open , the first Grand Slam title of his singles career, Sinner’s first thought was of his parents, of their sacrifice.

“I sacrificed some things, but they sacrificed more,” he said emotionally. “It was not easy for my son to leave home alone at the age of 13.”

Family Sacrifice

It is a touching story that comes from the small hotel Rifugio Fondovalle (meaning “Shelter Fondovalle” in Italian), located at an altitude of 1,540 m above sea level.

Rifugio Fondovalle is one of the very few “Refugees” in the Dolomiti di Sesto mountain region, located between Italy and Austria, right next to Tre Cime di Lavaredo (2,999 m above sea level; meaning Three Peaks of Lavaredo; or Drei Zinnen in German) – considered one of the most famous natural wonders in the world of mountaineering.

The hotel’s owner and head chef is Hanspeter, born in 1964. His wife, who is two years younger, is the manager and also in charge of the dining room. Sinner spent his childhood there, speaking mostly German, with the snow as his companion.

At the age of three and a half, Sinner began trying his hand at skiing and tennis in San Candido, under the guidance of teacher Ando Schoenegger.

On the snow-covered slopes, the boy soon achieved excellent results at the national level in the slalom (skiing between poles or gates): he won the 32nd Youth Grand Prix in 2009, at the age of 7.

Along with his skiing awards, Jannik also trained more intensely in tennis. Grandfather Josef personally drove his grandson to practice at the ATC Bruneck Club.

Until the age of 12, Sinner had only competed in ski competitions, and was the runner-up in Italy at that age. His biggest sporting idol in life was Bode Miller, the most successful American male skier of all time.

The skiing training was long, but the official competitions were always short, so at the age of 13, Sinner decided to choose tennis.

At the suggestion of renowned coach Massimo Sartori, Sinner was sent to the Piatti Tennis Center in Bordighera, a land located on the beautiful Riviera overlooking the Mediterranean.

There, Novak Djokovic used to practice. With this choice, Sinner had to go down the mountain, cross from east to west Italy alone and leave his parents’ arms.

The family sacrificed a lot so that Sinner could freely embark on the new path he had carved out, step by step out into the world.

Sinner’s Conquest

“I wish everyone had parents like mine,” Sinner said repeatedly in Australia last January.

“They always let me choose, even when I was very young. I played a lot of sports and my parents never pressured me. I wish all children were free to choose what they loved,” he explains .

Sinner was lucky to be born into such a family. It is a fact that most parents turn their children into machines in the world of sports .

“In Vienna, we had breakfast together all week. It was a strange feeling because that hadn’t happened for many years,” Sinner recalled of the October 2023 anniversary.

“Every time I go home, I only stay a few days in the mountains. So the whole week of breakfast with my parents is different, fun, beautiful and special.”

Sinner’s parents mostly watched their son compete on television at the Rifugio Fondovalle – a popular choice for tourists and skiers visiting the Italian-Austrian border – where pictures of Jannik with his racket and trophies were hung.

Mr. Hanspeter is passionate about cooking, and has rarely followed his son to compete in the US and acted as a private chef.

“He worked in the kitchen for 40 years, with more than 20 years in the hotel in the mountains. Cooking is his life and I feel happy about that, we spend so little time together that we try to make up for it when we have the chance,” Jannik confided a few months ago.

One of the ways Sinner makes up for his family is by winning. Late last year, he helped Italy win the Davis Cup in spectacular fashion, before winning the Australian Open.

After the peak in Melbourne, Sinner won the Rotterdam Open (ATP 500) and most recently the Miami Open . He is the most successful male tennis player since the beginning of 2024, losing only 1 match (against Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals of Indian Wells. They became the most anticipated pair of opponents, after the generation of the “Big 3”).

The Miami Open title brought Sinner to world number 2, something unprecedented for Italian tennis since the rankings were announced in 1973. He is also the tennis player from the boot-shaped country with the most ATP titles in the Open era (13).

Now it’s time for the season to enter the physical battles on clay. Sinner’s ambition is to conquer Roland Garros and surpass Djokovic to become world number one.