Jannik Sinner shares sage advice he received from Roger Federer on return to the scene

Jannik Sinner practises on a grass court

Jannik Sinner shared the advice he received from Roger Federer during a practice session when he was a 17-year-old wildcard in Halle.

Sinner said that he was disappointed to never play a match against Federer but cherishes the memory of their shared practices.

The Italian world No 1 recalled the interaction as he returned to Halle as the top seed for the Terra Wortmann Open.

The newest player to ascend to the top spot on the ATP Rankings added that Federer didn’t give him any tips on his game but did have some tips regarding attitude and application.

Sinner is only playing two grass court events this season, Halle and Wimbledon, and disclosed that the event organisers handing him a wildcard as a teenager was the reason he chose to play the event this term.

Sinner brought to light that a chance meeting with Severin Luthi led to him receiving the big opportunity to practice with the eight-time Wimbledon champion.

“I remember Luthi stopping me on the stairs of the hotel and asking me if I could warm [Federer] up for his match,” Sinner told ATPTOUR.com.

“I said, ‘Of course, yes.’

“It was a very good feeling, a special feeling.

“I didn’t have the chance to play against Roger in an official match, and this is something that I will always miss, but I do remember the practice sessions with him.”

Former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev believes that Sinner is one of the most diligent players on the Tour.

“The thing about Jannik is he came along very early,” Medvedev said.

“Everyone could see straight away that he had big potential.

“The thing about potential is it is always tricky.

“You never know if it is going to grow, but he always seemed very professional and serious, and usually these are the big ingredients for this potential to become reality.

“That’s what happened.

“There was maybe one year or one year and a half where he maybe stopped improving for one moment, and I think the rankings would say the same, but he has just reached another level in his game.

“Now he’s beating a lot of players, gaining a lot of points and winning a lot of tournaments.”

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Sinner was upbeat about his chances at Halle and Wimbledon despite grass being his weakest surface statistically.

He has only played 24 matches on the surface and has once again opted for a light swing.

“It would be very special, because you don’t have so many grass-court tournaments throughout the year,” Sinner explained.

“It’s only here and Wimbledon where I am playing, so I have only two chances [this year]. But in general, it’s great to be back on grass.

“It’s different.

“The first day you have to go through the movements on the surface and it’s difficult, especially when you play the first rounds against players who played already on grass.

“They have a little bit of feeling, but this is a place where they believed in me, they gave me a wild card in qualies back in the day.

“So I’m happy to come back here and hopefully I can show some good tennis early on.”