Sinner on Rising to World No. 1 and Sustaining Top Spot

Jannik Sinner realized dream now—and now sets his sights on a second straight Slam championship in Paris.

Novak Djokovic withdrew from Roland Garros on Tuesday due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee.

The Grand Slam king’s departure ends his reign as Roland Garros champion and as world No. 1.

World No. 2 Sinner, who swept Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach his maiden French Open semifinal will supplant Djokovic as new world No. 1—and become first Italian to hold the top spot—when the new rankings are released on Monday, June 10th.

“What can I say? First of all it is every player’s dream to become No. 1 in the world,” Sinner said in his on-court interview with ATP afterward. “In the other way, seeing Novak retiring here I think is disappointing. I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Continuing his season-long elevation, the 22-year-old Sinner said he’s thrilled to be new world No. 1 though he didn’t want to realize his dream on Djokovic’s injury.

“It means a lot to me for sure,” Sinner told the media in Paris. “It’s not the way we all were expecting actually. He had two very long matches, tough matches, five sets, so it’s tough. The first one he finished really late also. You know, it’s tough also for the tournament. Novak retiring, it’s always tough.

“Talking about myself, I am very happy about this achievement. It’s a lot of work we put in daily. It’s a daily routine. Obviously happy to have this number. In two days there is a very important match for me, the semifinals, so I’m focused about that at the moment. But, yes, of course, very happy to have this number now.”

While Sinner celebrates his rise to the top of the world, he targets two goals greater than world No. 1: improving as a person and as a player to fulfill his prodigious potential.