Jannik Sinner in action at Wimbledon (Image: Getty)
Jannik Sinner has claimed his parents refused to sit in the Centre Court Royal Box at Wimbledon because they didn’t want to be “in front of the cameras”.
Sinner, 24, beat Miomir Kecmanovic in a five-set thriller during his first round match in SW19 on Monday. The defending champion found himself 2-1 down at one point, but fought back to win 3-2.
However, his mother and father decided not to attend his tie against Kecmanovic. They were both invited into the Royal Box on Centre Court but chose against it.
Jannik Sinner is into round four at Wimbledon (Image: Getty)
When asked for the reason behind their absence, Sinner said on Friday: “I know my parents. I asked them, but it was impossible.
“They didn’t say yes. It’s okay, I mean I know them, I don’t have to ask. Mostly I know my mom and the fact that she doesn’t want to be in front of the cameras at all, same thing for my dad. I expected a firm no and it came, so all good.”
“We hardly even discussed it,” the world No.1 added. “They have other things to do and I understand that.” The offer was extended to the other defending champion this year, Iga Swiatek, and her parents were both seen in the VIP seats for her first-round match.
Sinner’s parents did come to last year’s Wimbledon final and sat in the player’s box to watch him beat Carlos Alcaraz for the title. But there was a famous parent in attendance to watch Sinner on Monday, as David Beckham took his mother to Centre Court.
Sinner has since progressed past Nuno Borges and then Jenson Brooksby to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the fifth successive year. The Italian beat both without losing a single set, though he admitted after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win against Brooksby that there is still a lot of room for improvement.
“For sure, very, very happy about the win,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “Trying to improve every day… small step forward today. Trying to get better… if I want to go far in this tournament, a couple things we need to handle better.
“Overall very happy. He’s a very tough opponent. We played each other 5 years ago. We both are improving… different players. Of course very happy about the result. Of course thanks for the support. It helped me a lot today. Thank you.”
Next up for the Italian is a tie against Shintaro Mochizuki on Sunday. The world No.150 has dropped just one set across his opening three matches en route to facing Sinner in the fourth round.
“We never played. But let’s see,” Sinner said on Mochizuki. “Whoever is in the fourth round of a Slam deserves to be there. It’s gonna be a tough match. I know he played against a very tough opponent today.
“Especially this surface, it’s very unpredictable. If you have a slightly wrong day, it’s tough to get out. Let’s see. I try to look more on my side of the net, trying to be the best I can in a couple days time. Then we see how it goes.
“It’s always special to be back here. This court gave me so much energy also in the past, I can confirm this. Thank you so much and see you in the next round.”