CHINA OPEN

September 25, 2025

Jannik Sinner

Press Conference

J. SINNER/M. Cilic

6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Jannik Sinner.

Congrats, Jannik. Well done tonight. How difficult is it for you to beat a former Grand Slam champion like Marin tonight?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, I mean, it's always difficult. His peak is very, very high. I practiced with him in New York actually, so it was quite recent. Yeah, big, big respect to him.

I managed to break him quite early, which gave me the confidence to continue. Obviously very, very, very happy. Let's see what's coming in the next round.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How are you feeling in general with Cilic having some powerful serves at the beginning? Were you nervous at all? More of an insight into your mindset in the last couple of hours...

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, I mean, mindset, was very excited to go back and play official matches. We did a lot of work to be in this position again, no? I'm very happy. I missed the competition.

Yeah, of course you are nervous. You have doubts. It's normal. Every day it's like this. But you have to be also excited to go again on court. At the moment I feel great physically and mentally, which is the most important.

Yeah, the more the match goes on, the more you loosen up a little bit. Also the body and mind, it was all good today.

Q. You obviously have been at the tournament for a few days now. What are your thoughts on the facilities and the improvements that you've seen year over year at the China Open, and in particular this year?

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, of course we have more practice courts, which gives the players possibility to choose practice times or also the length of the practice a little bit better. The gym has improved. Everything, no? The food area, it's slightly bigger and good food. Everything is working very well here.

I think all players are happy to come here. They take really good care of us. Yeah, amazing. The facility is quite big. There's lots of room to do whatever you want basically.

It's very nice.

Q. It's three weeks now since the No. 1 ranking went to Carlos. In one sense do you feel that's taken a little bit of pressure off you? Do you think, because of the fact you've split majors this year, it will come down to what happens in Turin? Even though there are no points on the Davis Cup Final, that can have bearing on who is going to be regarded as the best player in the world for 2025?

JANNIK SINNER: No, I don't think it's pressure off or on. The season went how it went. Yes, we split the Grand Slams, but we still had two very different seasons.

I'm very, very happy with the season I have played or am playing because it was remarkable from my side, what I did. But also what Carlos is doing, winning many, many titles this year.

Yeah, I mean, he deserves to be there. It's as simple as that. He played more tournaments, and he played all tournaments very, very well. If he was winning or making great results, he deserves to be there.

Whatever happens in Turin happens. Davis Cup is different factors. You don't play for yourself, you play for your whole country, which is even more kind of different pressure.

Yeah, I mean, the season's not over yet. We still have here. We have Shanghai, very big. We have Paris, which is very big. Turin, Davis Cup. Still big tournaments to come. Obviously the biggest, they are gone, with the Grand Slams, and we split those.

Yeah, all I can say is I'm very happy with the season I've played. The ranking, it comes and goes, so let's see.

Q. It's been a few days in China. You must receive lot of welcomes from Chinese fans. You have good interactions with fans after your victory today. I want to know your feelings about the atmosphere and your general feelings back to the Diamond Court.

JANNIK SINNER: Yeah, it's very nice to come here. Since day one when you practice, a lot of people watching the practice. You feel the passion people here have. I'm very happy to bring my energy to them.

Obviously they love tennis. That's the reason why they come here. That's the reason why I play here. It was a nice feeling to go out on this court to play match again. I have some great memories there.

So yeah, it's amazing. Every year I feel like it's growing, the sport or the passion for tennis here. From the woman's side you have amazing players. On the men's side, too, you have several players who play amazing tennis. This influences a lot also the crowd here in China. That's exactly what is important here for this country.