Atham wins the Rotterdam Championship and ranks third in the world

Three weeks ago, a historic victory was achieved, the Australian Grand Slam, which restored to Italy the victory in the Grand Slam tennis tournament that had been missing for 50 years. Now the Rotterdam tournament, the ATP 500 tournament that catapults Jannik Sinner into the future: which will actually happen tomorrow, because the South Tyrol player, who was already certain of his rise to the podium of the best in the world, immediately becomes world No. 3. Success in the final over Alex de Minaur in two sets (7-5 6-4), not without some suffering, allowed Sinner to immediately overcome Daniil Medvedev in the world rankings and thus rise where no one in Italy had risen before.

The record-breaking sinner, who extended his winning streak to 15, and the 12th title of his career, eliminating the wait to enter the top three: he will be the first Italian to reach this high level since the existence of computerized rankings in men's tennis and is the second ever after Nicola Pietrangeli, who was considered the third best player in the world in 1959 and 1960 by journalist Lance Tingay.

In the Rotterdam final, although the second serve was not always effective and the Australian's forehand push was difficult to stop, the Italian finished the exercise in two sets with 78% of points with the first and second serves.39% with the second. “I'm proud of the way I played this week – Sinner's direct words – if third place gives me confidence? Of course, a greater awareness that I have to share with my team.”

A new great victory by #kafir Who will win the Rotterdam Championship and from tomorrow will be the new number 3 in the world.
Congratulations, champion. Thank you for the feelings you give to Italy pic.twitter.com/W9X38wFIrG

– Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) February 18, 2024

He praises his opponent in the match: “Facing Alex is always difficult. I like to play with him in doubles. He is a nice player and I think there will be many successes. He is improving every week.”

We did a great job with my team two weeks ago, and also in this tournament. I'm proud of the way I played this week, we went through difficult moments but we are in the right direction. We are always trying to improve. Thank you to everyone who made this exceptional tournament possible. The crowd was great and fair even when I played against Holland. I love playing this tournament, see you next year.” And from Rotterdam come words of love for the Italian tennis player: “Four years ago I came here, I needed a wild card after winning the Next Generation ATP Finals. We are proud to have a small part in your wonderful journey. The only thing she hasn't changed is the way she talks to kids. “You're a Real Champion” was a tribute to Sinner by Richard Krajicek, the former Wimbledon champion and current Dutch tournament director. It's not a one-sided match, because Sinner, despite not awarding break points until the 10th game, still stands behind the pressure on his serves. De Minaur plays deep, is quick and never slows down. But the gap with the 2024 edition of Sinner is clear: the blue player misses the first set point, a backhand error, and De Minaur saves a second at the end of one of the most difficult matches in the group. But in the 64th minute, Sinner took the first set with an ace. In the second set, De Minaur broke the serve and an immediate counter-break from the Italian, who increased his progress towards victory, which deserves third place in the world, by looking at the top.