Sinner recently became the first Italian in history to emerge victorious at the ATP Finals, achieving the feat in front of a passionate home crowd in Turin. The 23-year-old claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Taylor Fritz in the final, winning the title without dropping a set.
The highly anticipated rematch of the US Open final between the World No. 1 and Fritz reportedly drew over 5.2 million viewers in Italy, despite competing for attention with the Italy vs. France Nations League football game.
During the latest episode of the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast, the American acknowledged Jannik Sinner‘s meteoric rise in popularity, comparing it to the media “circus” surrounding soccer icon David Beckham. Illustrating his point, Roddick highlighted that the 23-year-old’s opening match at the ATP Finals garnered more Italian viewers than the US Open did.
Andy Roddick further emphasized Sinner’s star status in Italy, asserting that when the World No. 1 dined out in his native country, he drew a level of attention comparable to Taylor Swift.
“Apparently he’s like David Beckham level star, fame, chaos, circus in Italy. Jim Courier was saying, and I’ll get the numbers wrong but just focus on the sentiment, but Sunday night, the Italian football league, I don’t know who was playing, but normally that’s a massive rating,” Roddick said.
“The football rated like a 1.3 million and Jannik Sinner’s opening night did a bigger number in Italy than the US Open did. He did like 3 million, he doubled up the football rating. First round, not like the final. Massive star there, like he goes to dinner and it’s like Taylor Swift,” he added.
