Jannik Sinner shared some honest truths with one of his rivals.
Jannik Sinner pulled Alex Michelsen aside after their Cincinnati Open match (Image: Getty)
Alex Michelsen has shared the unusual advice he received from Jannik Sinner when they met in the locker room.
The world No. 41 enjoyed his first full season on the ATP Tour this year, reaching a career-high ranking and making his Masters 1000 debut.
Aged just 20, Michelsen is one of the tour’s promising young talents. The American has qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the second successive year.
This time, he’ll head to the tournament with more experience after getting a taste of life on the pro circuit. In 2024, Michelsen cracked the top 50, reached two tour-level singles finals and got to face some of the world’s best players, including Sinner.
The two-time Grand Slam champion defeated the youngster both times they played in Cincinnati and at the US Open. But the world No. 41 says Sinner taught him a valuable lesson after their first meeting.
“I have played Sinner twice now. I went close to him in Cincy, and at the US Open, he absolutely waxed me,” Michelsen told the ATP.
Alex Michelsen lost both of his matches against Jannik Sinner this year (Image: Getty)
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“But I remember we talked a lot in Cincinnati, because obviously he won that tournament. And I was actually there for doubles and I made the final. So I was seeing him every day in the locker room. And we chatted up.”
Sinner noticed Michelsen kept apologising during their second-round showdown in Cincinnati and wanted to tell the 20-year-old that it wasn’t necessary.
The American continued: “He actually told me I was saying sorry too much, because I tried to keg him. He knew I was going after him. And he’s like, ‘It’s a good play, don’t say sorry’.
“He is actually a super nice guy. Unfortunately, I am 0-2 against him. But I guess that’s okay because he is the No. 1 player in the world.”
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“The tour is absolutely brutal. You lose every week. I haven’t won a tournament this year. I had a match point in the Newport final and I got aced on the match point. It was a good week,” he explained.
“I feel like last year I was winning a lot because I went from 600 to 97 in the world. I won a lot of matches in Futures and Challengers. Even though you are not winning every week, you are still winning a ton of matches. And this year I think I might be 50/50.
“I might have the same number of wins and losses. It is definitely tough mentally, experiencing all this for the first time. And I think becoming a good loser, as lame as that sounds, you have got to become a good loser just because it is going to happen all the time.”
