Why is Sinner* not grabbing the general public's attention?

Spencer Gore

Spencer Gore

Legend
There can be no doubt that Sinner* is playing at a level above the rest of the tour, at the moment. And he is playing tennis of an extremely high level. But, unlike Alcaraz, this doesn't seem to be translating to interest or attention among the general public, far less love.

Of course, there are tennis nerds (like us!) who have chosen Sinner* as their favourite new player but he really doesn't seem to be cutting through with the wider public, not even sports fans.

Why?
 
This isn't a criticism of his game, but he just doesn't have a fraction of the personality and charisma of Alcaraz. Even the controversy didn't really stick to him, as it seemed out of character somehow.

Now, this could change, as excellence, itself, can be exciting and if he and Carlos meet in more climactic matches. And right now, tennis is transitioning from The Big 3 / Djokovic era.
 
zakopinjo said:
robotic tennis, "boring personality", no interaction with the audience, no hot statements, generally no rivalry with Alcaraz (37-year-old Novak has a bigger rivalry with Alcaraz), doping scandal.
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@Winner Sinner
You're gonna let someone talk about your countryman like that?! Defend him boiiii.

OP I'll also add that he's beating nobodies. Peak Fed could be beating one Taylor Fritz after another cause he was so great to watch, but Sinner needs someone with charisma for a match to be good (like Alcaraz) cause he himself has 0 of it.
 
Winner Sinner said:
Yet last year he was voted favorite player by fans around the world, who knows why.
Thread that has clearly already started off on the wrong foot.
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All the broccollihead gen zenners probably decided to put their watermelon vapes away for 3 seconds since they're glued to their phones 24/7 and that's why he got so many votes. Alcaraz fans were too busy watching his actual matches instead of arguing 24/7 on a tennis forum that their guy isn't as super boring and has no charisma as everyone says.

Was there some big movement in Italy to vote for the carrotman that I'm unaware of too?

Btw you do realize that Federer was still winning the award while playing 3 matches in a season, if that? If he played an official singles match in 2022 he'd probably win that too LOL.
 
tennis_pro said:
All the broccollihead gen zenners probably decided to put their watermelon vapes away for 3 seconds since they're glued to their phones 24/7 and that's why he got so many votes. Alcaraz fans were too busy watching his actual matches instead of arguing 24/7 on a tennis forum that their guy isn't as super boring and has no charisma as everyone says.

Was there some big movement in Italy to vote for the carrotman that I'm unaware of too?

Btw you do realize that Federer was still winning the award while playing 3 matches in a season, if that? If he played an official singles match in 2022 he'd probably win that too LOL.
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I see delirium mode is always on.
Hahahaha
 
tennis_pro said:
Yea dude Sinner is the best. Would beat peak Federer easily. Fans love him, best game ever. Agassi should tie his shoelaces.

Is this the tone you're more familiar with on some Italian forums? Feel better?
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I never said that Sinner would beat Federer easily, but that he could have played it.

There's no point in trying to emphasize other people's concepts to save your position, the user who is delusional with Sinner=Berdych comparisons is you.
For the umpteenth time, deal with it.
 
Spencer Gore said:
That's a vote among a section of tennis fans, not the general public.
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What this shows is a chunk of the fans think he's boring, but doesn't mean he doesn't have a huge number of followers. I wouldn't claim to better represent the public than the official voted award. The sponsor deals Sinner have also prove his popularity, those big companies don't throw out 100m contracts for nothing.
 
Winner Sinner said:
I never said that Sinner would beat Federer easily, but that he could have played it.

There's no point in trying to emphasize other people's concepts to save your position, the user who is delusional with Sinner=Berdych comparisons is you.
For the umpteenth time, deal with it.
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If I'm being absolutely honest I think Sinner would more or less be at prime Murray's level. He'd get a win here or there, but every Slam would be torture to win and he would really have to be good enough for a long enough period to have at least 1 or 2 of these guys be injured our something to get a shot at a big title.

That's why it's so frustrating the dude is winning absolute frisbes now beating complete nobodies in Slams/WTF. This s**t used to actually mean something where in order to win a Slam or a big title you'd have to go through Federer and Djokovic f.e. and now you have some Berdych 2.0 carrotdude with a charisma of a sponge and a game as interesting as David Ferrer's swipe one big title after a big title because the tour is a farce and the only two players who can actually challenge him are either close to retirement (Djokovic) and half the man he used to be even a year earlier or a 21-year old ATG who obviously still isn't consistent (like your typical 21-year old).

His 2024 WTF draw is just the cherry on top and perfectly sums up the entire season. That could easily be the biggest WTF cupcake draw ever yet you're here bringing out his hold or dominance ratio like it means anything. Nadal is probably crying in his room somewhere asking himself why he'd never get ONE draw like that at the WTF but instead had to go through Fed or Djokovic (often both) at that tournament. I thought for years that the 2017 WTF was the weakest I've seen but 2024 is just next level bad.
 
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Partially agree about game style and obviously there's the doping controversy, but I don't get the "no charisma" thing. If Sinner had no charisma, then Borg, Sampras or Federer also had no charisma. In fact they all had massive charisma exactly BECAUSE they were how they are.

It's actually hard to have more charisma than coming on court, kicking ass without making any fuss about anything else but the game itself and leaving it to the opponents to create other theaters because they might need it to shine.
 
ChrisRF said:
Partially agree about game style and obviously there's the doping controversy, but I don't get the "no charisma" thing. If Sinner had no charisma, then Borg, Sampras or Federer also had no charisma. In fact they all had massive charisma exactly BECAUSE they were how they are.

It's actually hard to have more charisma than coming on court, kicking ass without making any fuss about anything else but the game itself and leaving it to the opponents to create other theaters because they might need it to shine.
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Federer has the look, he has the game, he has the emotional outbursts after a big win or winning a big trophy, he has the posture, he has the speech.

Sinner has none of that.
 
Current Players popularity on Twitter/X

1 million Plus
Djokovic 9.2M Followers

500K Plus
Alcaraz 840.6K Followers

400K Plus
Dimitrov 458.9K Followers
Tsitsipas 435.9K Followers

300K Plus
Medvedev 338.3K Followers

200K Plus
Sinner* 273.3K Followers

100K Plus
Zverev 136.9K Followers
Rublev 124.9K Followers
Tiafoe 116.7K Followers
Fritz 110.5K Followers
Ruud 104K Followers
 
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zakopinjo said:
Federer has the look, he has the game, he has the emotional outbursts after a big win or winning a big trophy, he has the posture, he has the speech.

Sinner has none of that.
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Okay, but then you could say exactly the same about Alcaraz other than his game style. But honestly, it's mainly the drop shots that make him unique. Other than that, BOTH players shine with their game when they play against each other, each in his own way. Speeches and all that are literally irrelevant for both of them.
 
ChrisRF said:
Partially agree about game style and obviously there's the doping controversy, but I don't get the "no charisma" thing. If Sinner had no charisma, then Borg, Sampras or Federer also had no charisma. In fact they all had massive charisma exactly BECAUSE they were how they are.

It's actually hard to have more charisma than coming on court, kicking ass without making any fuss about anything else but the game itself and leaving it to the opponents to create other theaters because they might need it to shine.
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A lot of this is just like extraverts hating on introverts
 
Nothing compared to people not even knowing who Kiltschko was when he was the heavyweight champion. Lol.
 
Spencer Gore said:
Current Players popularity on Twitter/X

1 million Plus
Djokovic 9.2M Followers

500K Plus
Alcaraz 840.6K Followers

400K Plus
Dimitrov 458.9K Followers
Tsitsipas 435.9K Followers

300K Plus
Medvedev 338.3K Followers

200K Plus
Sinner 273.3K Followers

100K Plus
Zverev 136.9K Followers
Rublev 124.9K Followers
Tiafoe 116.7K Followers
Fritz 110.5K Followers
Ruud 104K Followers
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Can you pull the same data for Instagram? Sinner has 3M followers there and Dimitrov has 1M. Social media size has a lot to do with how much the player is willing to expose their personal life. Sinner made it clear that he is not into that.
 
He's a charisma vaccum, and his biggest rival is so inconsistent right now that you never know if he's going to get beaten in the 2R or win the title.
 
ChrisRF said:
Okay, but then you could say exactly the same about Alcaraz other than his game style. But honestly, it's mainly the drop shots that make him unique. Other than that, BOTH players shine with their game when they play against each other, each in his own way. Speeches and all that are literally irrelevant for both of them.
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It's not just that, he's got the energy, variety. Alcaraz isn't just some one trick pony like Sinner who lowkey treats tennis as 9-5 job. I've seen some robotic players through the years, but Sinner is really as low as you can go.
 
johnmccabe said:
Give him some time. He only had one good year so far.
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Time for what?
From the above that Federer has, Sinner will not develop anything until the end of his career. You either simply have it or you don't.

And that's perfectly fine. But it will not attract masses of people. In short, Sinner is a neutral type of person, you neither love him nor hate him.

ChrisRF said:
Okay, but then you could say exactly the same about Alcaraz other than his game style. But honestly, it's mainly the drop shots that make him unique. Other than that, BOTH players shine with their game when they play against each other, each in his own way. Speeches and all that are literally irrelevant for both of them.
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Totally different development

He came to the world stage at the age of 18, with victories against 2 members of the big 3, 2 masters, a slam at the age of 19. Epic final duels with Novak 2023, Wimbledon champion.

Very emotional on the field, loudly celebrating most points, emotionally breaking down after a big title or after a big defeat in the final. Interesting off the field, funny statements
 
zakopinjo said:
Time for what?
From the above that Federer has, Sinner will not develop anything until the end of his career. You either simply have it or you don't.

And that's perfectly fine. But it will not attract masses of people. In short, Sinner is a neutral type of person, you neither love him nor hate him.


Totally different development

He came to the world stage at the age of 18, with victories against 2 members of the big 3, 2 masters, a slam at the age of 19. Epic final duels with Novak 2023, Wimbledon champion.

Very emotional on the field, loudly celebrating most points, emotionally breaking down after a big title or after a big defeat in the final. Interesting off the field, funny statements
Click to expand...
Easy tiger.... Compared to Federers charisma, even Alcaraz is not close, so that's a really high bar. Sinner will start to show more emotion on court in a few years. He has already started to grunt more. I'm totally fine with some people hating him and nothing will stop that.
 
Op are you kidding.

Last year sinner won the fan favorite award. Let's be honest with ourselves , he is grabbing enough attention.
 
zakopinjo said:
Time for what?
From the above that Federer has, Sinner will not develop anything until the end of his career. You either simply have it or you don't.

And that's perfectly fine. But it will not attract masses of people. In short, Sinner is a neutral type of person, you neither love him nor hate him.


Totally different development

He came to the world stage at the age of 18, with victories against 2 members of the big 3, 2 masters, a slam at the age of 19. Epic final duels with Novak 2023, Wimbledon champion.

Very emotional on the field, loudly celebrating most points, emotionally breaking down after a big title or after a big defeat in the final. Interesting off the field, funny statements
Click to expand...
You must understand that it is your opinion, and as such it does not represent the opinion of millions of fans.
Or am I wrong in not considering you the spokesperson of the people, if so mea culpa. :)
 
nolefam_2024 said:
Op are you kidding.

Last year sinner won the fan favorite award. Let's be honest with ourselves , he is grabbing enough attention.
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Again, I'm not talking about his popularity among the sort of tennis fans who do online fan surveys, I'm talking about the general public. He's not breaking through. Which is bad for tennis. Even Lendl, who was seen as robotic at first, broke through to the public consciousness for that very reason!
 
Spencer Gore said:
Again, I'm not talking about his popularity among the sort of tennis fans who do online fan surveys, I'm talking about the general public. He's not breaking through. Which is bad for tennis. Even Lendl, who was seen as robotic at first, broke through to the public consciousness for that very reason!
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No op.

Stop the hyperbole. The online fan surveys is enough to say he is super popular. .


He has earned millions with endorsements too


Are you secure enough in your life or jealous of YOUR new world number 1?
 
Spencer Gore said:
There can be no doubt that Sinner* is playing at a level above the rest of the tour, at the moment. And he is playing tennis of an extremely high level. But, unlike Alcaraz, this doesn't seem to be translating to interest or attention among the general public, far less love.
......he really doesn't seem to be cutting through with the wider public, not even sports fans.

Why?
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Heh, heh. No doubt those both successful and have the 'it' factor reach more fans and in that regard, appear more successful. My main dude Roger Federer oozed the 'it' factor, and still does. My favourite from the current crop Carlitos, has it too. Difficult to describe the 'it' factor, but emotionally tangible.
As most will acknowledge, it doesn't matter if Jannik is not as popular as Carlitos. Dude's reached the pinnacle of his sport this year, is very popular in Italy and probably with many tennis enthusiasts around the world. Requires nothing more. I envisage him with a sense of huge achievement, sharing it with his loved ones and having the satisfaction of knowing what a superb player he is. And he has only just started to excel. Kids playing tennis know who he is and most will want to achieve what he has.

No player should have the sole burden of carrying the sport via popularity with the masses. It takes the top players in the tour to build a platform of general interest, as well as the sports media. As a general view, I hope none of the younger players worry about popularity, and instead focus on their game and its development. Fan awards, my eye ( although they are fun when a favourite wins it!!!)
 
It's not that serious. He is huge in italy, and has lots of fans out of it and has pretty decent media coverage. He seems to be a pretty quiet guy and not that outgoing, but that is his personality. Should he act differently for what exactly? To be more "exciting" similarly to attention seeking fakes like Bublik? Or act like a clown sometimes and not try his hardest so people can say what a talent he is.

What matters is what he does on the court. That's his primary job and he is killing it. He does it with not much fuss about it. Clown shows and smiles are for those who can't perform and need to shift attention to something else.
 
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Spencer Gore said:
...unlike Alcaraz, this doesn't seem to be translating to interest or attention among the general public, far less love.
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Rafa Nadal.

No one is making headlines in general against GOAT Nadal's retirement. A simple Google news search for "tennis", top headlines are tons on Nadal, Fed and Nadal's rivalry, a few blurbs about Radacanu finally winning, a mention of Iga, then the rest is Sinner. Not a single Alcaraz headline above the fold.

Not sure what you are on about.

Anecdotally, most the kids at the club, the college players, and all the league folks, it is more of a split between Alcaraz and Sinner.

I dunno. Maybe just around your folks.
 
Right now he is really tense as long as wada case is going on. Once he gets cleared, he will relax and will show in his personality.

Otherwise, he has already grabbed the attention of Italian public where he is insanely popular. He will work on improving his PR later for other countries
 
Bill Lobsalot said:
Borg displayed no personality. he was pretty popular. Sinner, to me, is just another baseline basher. Just a little better at it than others.
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But Borg managed to make his ice cold demeanor his personality.

Sinner just looks dull. Particularly in person. I saw him after a match and we got him to sign a ball and he displayed all the charisma of a mannequin.

It wouldn't hurt to put the tiniest effort into interacting with starstruck kids who walk away much less in awe.
 
johnmccabe said:
Easy tiger.... Compared to Federers charisma, even Alcaraz is not close, so that's a really high bar. Sinner will start to show more emotion on court in a few years. He has already started to grunt more. I'm totally fine with some people hating him and nothing will stop that.
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no one hates him

Winner Sinner said:
You must understand that it is your opinion, and as such it does not represent the opinion of millions of fans.
Or am I wrong in not considering you the spokesperson of the people, if so mea culpa. :)
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Take it easy, most of the fans are Italian (huge market, 60 million souls).
Due to his lack of charisma and inadequate breakthrough on the tour, the rest of the world cannot identify with him and choose him as their player.
Another year will have to pass and he will have to beat Alcaraz a lot to be able to buy the rest of the world.
 
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