Jannik Sinner had the Rod Laver Arena crowd in fits of laughter with his unusual pre-match routines.
Jannik Sinner had the fans cracking up as he detailed his sleeping pattern
Jannik Sinner left the Australian Open fans in stitches as he talked through his pre and post-match routines at the Australian Open.
The defending champion booked his spot in the second week, beating Marcos Giron 6-3 6-4 6-2 and spoke to Jim Courier during his on-court interview, where he was asked about his working hours on match day.
The Italian immediately started giggling before explaining just how much he liked to sleep before and after getting on the court.
Courier is known for giving some of the best on-court interviews with top players at the Aussie Open and other tournaments. And he was back in business to chat to Sinner after his third-round victory on Saturday.
The world No. 1 opened the Rod Laver Arena night session, which begins at 7pm local time, and Courier was keen to know what Sinner got up to before and after the tie.
“What’s a day in the life of Jannik Sinner like on match day when you have all that time before the match and you still have lots to do after the match?” he asked before the Italian started chuckling.
“Why is that funny?” Courier grinned. The two-time Grand Slam champion replied: “Because I’m watching part of my box there smiling, I don’t know why!
“Usually I’m quite relaxed until 20 minutes before the match. I try to sleep in as long as possible which, I have no doubts I can do that every day.”
Asked when he got up, Sinner surprised everyone when he revealed how much slumber he got. “I slept around 10 hours this night which is good,” he said.
“Enjoy it while it lasts, my man. It doesn’t last,” 54-year-old Courier joked.
“Everyone tells me that! So hopefully I can keep going,” Sinner continued. “And then I had again, half an hour before the match, again sleeping. But hopefully I wake up when it counts, no? When it’s 7pm I try to be awake!
Jannik Sinner admitted he tried to sleep for 10 hours a night
“But no, if not, we try to feel the ball a little bit for half an hour, 40 minutes, I’m trying to have good food. Now [after the match] it’s quite long because we have to do press, we have to do ice bath. It’s all part of the job and hopefully I’m recovered for the most part.”
Sinner still has his post-match duties to take care of, and then he’s looking forward to getting some more rest. “Today I arrived around 2.30pm and I’m going to leave two hours time from now, so 11.30pm more or less, and then I’m back to bed,” he laughed.
Last year’s champion will now face either Holger Rune or Miomir Kecmanovic as he tries to keep his title defence alive.
Sinner is defending a Grand Slam title for the first time in his young career and, so far, has handled it well, dropping just one set in his first three rounds.
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