Despite a valiant run to the final for the 19-year-old Tien, who was playing in his first ATP Tour final, Sinner proved to be too much to handle, and after his victory, he spoke about the significance the China Open holds for him. “It is a very, very special place for me,” Sinner said during the trophy presentation.
“My team, thanks for understanding and working with me. Not all the team is here, so hopefully the rest are watching from home. Thanks for working with me and we will try to improve and push for more and let’s see what the rest of the season looks like, but I am very happy to share this [trophy] with all of you.”
While Sinner will no doubt be thrilled to add his first piece of silverware since triumphing at the All England Club in July, the victory compounds a spacing issue he’s been contending with. The amount of titles he’s won, including the sheer size of some of them such as the China Open trophy, has left Sinner keeping them in his family home instead of his own apartment.
Speaking to press in Beijing after his win, he was asked: “You’re building up quite a collection of trophies. This has to be probably one of the biggest ones in size that you’ve won. Where do you put the trophies?” to which Sinner answered: “In my parents’ place always. My apartment is quite small, so there’s not a lot of space.”
The tennis supremo will hope to continue his dominance in China as he’s set to take on Daniel Altmaier in his opening round match of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday. Discussing his preparations for the ATP 1000 event, Sinner said: “I’m not the only one who is changing. If you ask every player, every player is changing stuff and trying to get better. Whatever we try to do, it’s not crazy steps, just trying to adjust a couple of things, trying to get better as a player, like everyone else does.
“Certain shots that worked slightly better than the months before, certain shots we can still improve. But it’s also normal, and I’m just looking forward to having as many matches as possible in every tournament. This gives me the chance to try as many things as possible. So, let’s see, but we are quite happy with the work we are doing.”
