Jannik the reserved, Kimi the enthusiastic: emotions and successes of the Italian kids who have reached the top in tennis and Formula 1. And who already had clear ideas from an early age
There’s a question that’s always asked of a kid who starts to achieve success in sports: what is your dream? Budding footballers say they play the Champions League, tennis players participate in the Wimbledon tournament, drivers race in Monza with Ferrari. The dreams. Each of us has one in our drawer, but if to the first question around the age of ten you answer that you want to become number 1 in the world, then it means that you already have something more than others. A dream that is already ambitionpersonality, character and desire to succeed. Number 1 stuff like Jannik Sinner and Kimi Antonelli, the most beautiful face of Italian sport, praised and loved in our country (apart from the criticisms about the residences which don’t even deserve to be talked about) as much as esteemed outside.
The boy from Sesto Valpusteria
Jannik Sinner he was born in the mountains of Val Badia, a few kilometers from Cortina, and they put skis on his feet when he could barely stand. He is someone who has always been good in all sports: a number 10 with great prospects, a skier who won an Italian category championship, to the point of becoming the best Italian tennis player in history. He always knew where he wanted to go and when he was asked as a kid after winning yet another tournament he replied without emotion: “Becoming number one in the world”. Which at that age is more or less the same as someone who thinks they can go to the moon. Yet from that sentence you could already understand his very strong character, his absolute determination to reach the finish line. Then time told us the rest of the story, making Sinner an absolute icon, the Tomba (or Valentino Rossi, take your pick) of our times. A media phenomenon which, in addition to giving great prestige to Italian tennis, has led to the growth of the movement, raising the level of our tennis to levels never seen before. Two consecutive victories at Wimbledon they would be enough to understand what we are talking about, but then there is everything else because now champions of this level are also interested in their private life, personal tastes, habits and pleasures. Sinner doesn’t have explosive sympathy, but from some of his interviews emerges that subtle irony typical of those who struggle to overcome shyness. No excesses, low profile and great respect for opponents. And then that desire to share life with kids his age, with someone like Kimi Antonelli for example.
The Casalecchio phenomenon
Sinner is five years older than Kimi, but the explosion of the boy from Casalecchio affected him to the point that the two cemented a true friendship after meeting each other, exchanging sincere compliments with each success of their friend. Antonelli has all the lightness of his twenties, he exudes a desire to live from his smile and boyish curls. But he is incredibly mature when he drives his Mercedes at three hundred an hour, so much so that he has already won eight grand prix this season, accumulating a huge lead in the world drivers’ rankings. In his work he has the same professionalism as Sinner, at the beginning he made some mistakes, but like Jannik he worked on the aspects to improve and overcame them. Family is the great secret of both even if in this case the differences are enormous because Marco, KImi’s father, is someone who has always lived in the world of motors, While Hanspeter, Jannik’s father, he has always been busy with something completely different. But there is a lot of the tradition of the Italian family in both of them and while Jannik, who is now 25 years old, enjoys making fun of his mother who can’t handle the tension of her matches, Kimi runs to hug everyone at the end of the match. Celebrating with his high school friends to whom he is very close. And when Kimi started racing karts, he too answered the fateful question with confidence: “Winning the Formula 1 world championship”.
