Jannik Sinner Media Interviews Before Indian Wells 2026 🎙️

Yeah, it feels great. Obviously one of the nicest tournaments we have throughout the year, so it feels great to be back. Of course, it's a very important tournament too, starting off the Masters Series for this year again here, so I'm very happy and we all hope for a great tournament. You got in pretty early too, didn't you? How did you spend the time? Yeah, we came here because in Monaco the weather was not great, so we decided to come here, grabbed a couple of friends, played some golf, but in the same time we practiced very hard, very long days, many, many hours on the court, so I feel like this helped me a lot and hopefully I'm ready for a good tournament. I think I'm right in saying it's the only hard court in Marston. How nice is it actually to still have that kind of challenge? Yeah, it's of course extra motivation. I mean, it's a court where it's slightly different than other courts. It's quite rough, it's getting slow at times, but look, I'm very happy to accept this challenge and I'm very confident that I can do some great results here in the future if it's not here, hopefully I have many years to play on, so I'm quite relaxed. In the same time, I know that the season has just started, so it's still going to be a long season, but I'm very happy to be here and I hope that I can improve my game here too. How do you reflect on the season so far? I know it's still very early. Yeah, I mean, I played well in Australia. I was very close there, I was close in Doha too. Just a couple of moments in each match which I've missed a bit, but in the same time, look, I'm very happy to be here. I'm happy in the shape I am in right now. I feel very confident that I can play some good tennis and it has been still a great season, look. Same as in a Grand Slam, it's a great result, and now here's the second big event of the year, so I'm looking forward to it. Just finally, at the end of Doha, I say that you were active, which surprised me in a way. How did you get your confidence back? I mean, it's all part of the process. We all have ups and slightly small downs, but I'm not worried. We are practising very hard. Back in the days, the hard work always brought me success, and I'm working harder now than I was before, so I'm very sure that the results are coming back. But yeah, look, if it's not this week, I know it might be next week. I know that I can play a good tournament, but I also know that I can lose before, which was the case also last year. You know that, it's always in the back of your mind, but not always things are coming your way as you want and as you wish, so I'm very relaxed. I know that I can play some good tennis, so I'm happy to be here, happy to start, hopefully, a good tournament here, and then we'll see how it goes. Good luck. Thank you. Preparation is going really well. It's a special place. Obviously, missing out last year, it makes it even more special, and we all hope for a great tournament. Ever since you released your YouTube channel vlog, a lot of other players have done something very similar. How has that been going for you, sharing your story with your fans, and how do you see that progressing over time? Yeah, I mean, I feel like fans, they don't know exactly how we are as a person, so this helps also to show how I am off the court, and I think it's something great. Personally, I love to watch those other YouTube videos from other sports people, and it's, of course, something different. I have behind my team what makes it by itself. I don't have to worry about anything else, but at the same time, it's nice to show something outside of tennis, at times, how we practice or what other stuff. I love to do outside of a tennis court, so I think it's nice. At the same time, obviously, the main priority is always to play tennis, and that's what I love to do. Jannik, just entering this time of year, is there anything you're focused on in your game? Is it just everything? How do you sort of arrange your focus? I think we are always trying to progress with our games, and I feel like we're doing a great job. It has been a very hard practice week here for me, with many, many hours of practice. I'm very happy with how I'm feeling on the court, and obviously, we try to go as far as possible in the tournament. At the same time, we also try to improve a couple of things. I'm trying to be slightly more aggressive at times on the baseline, and then we'll see how it goes. Jannik, Russell follow BBC. How do you view the season so far? The season was good. Sam is in Australia, and in Doha, whatever happened. But I'm very happy in what mental moment I am in. As I said, we try to maximise our potential. The season has just started, so it's a very important couple of tournaments for me before going on the clay. I know that. But I feel good to play some good tennis, and as I said, now we'll see how it goes. I'm Rory Carroll with Reuters. Just curious, how do you keep focused when there's world events like a war in Iran, and players that were in Dubai and unable to travel, does that affect your ability to focus and prepare? There are certain things we cannot control, really, and this is definitely one of them. I do think and believe that ATP and everyone is trying to do the best possible choices to feel as safe as possible. That's the only thing I can say, really. I obviously hope that everyone is safe and they can come here to play or also to go home. It depends what they want to do, but there are certain scenarios we cannot control. I try, of course, to be focused, but you also realise that there are much more important things in life than playing tennis. I do believe we have good protection around us, being as a player, and I hope other players feel the same way. When you talk about, from the first question, wanting to show other parts of your personality, other sides of you outside of being just a professional tennis player, how hard is it to have a side that is not connected to tennis, like finding hobbies, things that can distract you from the time on court? Is it hard to have things that aren't tennis related? No, it's not hard. For me, the most important thing is always to have good people around me, because this already gives you loads of stability in your life, in a personal life, in the life we live in, which is at times quite hectic. The only thing you want to do is just staying at home and do something very, very relaxed. At the same time, I also need some other things to do if it's playing golf or driving a car or anything else, playing some PlayStation, and just living also the life of a 24-year-old. I know that these days they are very, very rare, because I do sacrifice a lot to be in the position where I am, but it is important just to surround yourself with good people, people who understand how you are as a person, and I think this already gives you so many positive things. We've had a conversation around Nike's kits lately, and we've seen you adjust certain elements in Australia. How involved are you in giving feedback to Nike on what you wear and what are the elements that matter to you? Look, honestly, I think Nike is doing an incredible job, because they have so many athletes and so many different things they need to think about. But at the same time, I like what I'm wearing. There was more a question of not being as dark because of the sun. I had some problems with Spitziri at some point, having cramps, and we realised that I was wearing quite dark colours, and that's the reason why we changed a bit in white. But look, we change the outfits so many times throughout the whole year. Basically, every couple of tournaments, we have new outfits, so it's also not easy to always have something that looks perfect in that court, but at the same time, I believe there's such a big team behind to make great outfits, so we're getting more involved next year, but at the same time, I think they're doing a great, great job.