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

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
People will always have preferences. Sampras and Agassi are both great players, but they have very different styles. If you prefer Agassi hitting the ball cleanly off of both wings, you are not going to become a Sampras fan simply because he has more majors.

That's just for gloryhounds.
Of course, but thats not what is at play here. Sinner has plenty of fans, but many haters are just Carlos fans or moral high ground weirdos.
 

tennis3

Hall of Fame
He's working on stuff for next season.


images
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Borg displayed nothing on the court other than tennis skill. Maybe the chicks dug his looks.
Borg had a strong aura, and his personality contrasted with his rivals Connors and McEnroe.

As a young player, Borg had temper issues, even being expelled from a tennis club in Sweden. His parents said he could ruin his whole career, so Borg then went the other extreme where he rarely showed any emotion. Borg having a hot temper under an ice cold exterior made him interesting.
 

Purestriker

Legend
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
X is dead Zed.
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Gauff is the equivalent on the WTA side. At the moment, any tennis fan worth their salt is taking note of what Iga and Jannik are accomplishing on court, but both Carlitos and Coco have captured the public attention.
Yep, but if Sinner continues to do what he is doing then it wont matter, aka Djoker.
 
... At the moment, any tennis fan worth their salt is taking note of what Iga and Jannik are accomplishing on court, but both Carlitos and Coco have captured the public attention.
Nah, man. Any tennis fan 'worth their salt' can acknowledge and appreciate the achievements of all excellent players. That said, it would be patronising to assume that those who are not fans of Jannik and Iga are not 'fans worth their salt', or that fans of Carlitos / Coco are 'not worth their salt'.

As a Carlitos fan, his exciting game and his achievements make him a great player in my view. He has as you know, achieved considerable success in his young caeer to date, so it isn't just about his style of play. That said, I can understand your view that those considered less exciting to watch may not capture the public's interest as much, even if they are superb players.
Does it matter if they're popular? Not in my view. A player's career is built on more significant factors and those factors are what matter in a successful career. Jannik is purring, at the pinnacle of the sport. I doubt if he gives a feck about relative popularity - rightly so.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Nah, man. Any tennis fan 'worth their salt' can acknowledge and appreciate the achievements of all excellent players. That said, it would be patronising to assume that those who are not fans of Jannik and Iga are not 'fans worth their salt', or that fans of Carlitos / Coco are 'not worth their salt'.

As a Carlitos fan, his exciting game and his achievements make him a great player in my view. He has as you know, achieved considerable success in his young caeer to date, so it isn't just about his style of play. That said, I can understand your view that those considered less exciting to watch may not capture the public's interest as much, even if they are superb players.
Does it matter if they're popular? Not in my view. A player's career is built on more significant factors and those factors are what matter in a successful career. Jannik is purring, at the pinnacle of the sport. I doubt if he gives a feck about relative popularity - rightly so.

That's exactly what I said. "Taking note of" doesn't mean you have to be a fan.
 

Cabeza del Demonio

Professional
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.
If I recall, this is kinda how Federer started off too. Genius on the court, but a pretty boring personality outside of it. Turns out "letting the racquet do the talking" works if you're that good :D
 

GloW

Professional
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
weird that med has more than zed???
 

mental midget

Hall of Fame
getting public attention for tennis is tough in this day/age. roger/rafa both had such recognizable styles, embodies a certain aesthetic that everyone could understand. sinner's just...a really good tennis player atm, not controversial like nick for example or easy to pin a simple label on (fed=genius, nadal=consummate warrior).
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Borg had a strong aura, and his personality contrasted with his rivals Connors and McEnroe.

As a young player, Borg had temper issues, even being expelled from a tennis club in Sweden. His parents said he could ruin his whole career, so Borg then went the other extreme where he rarely showed any emotion. Borg having a hot temper under an ice cold exterior made him interesting.

I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.

We all know this but that was how Federer was too.
 

Shaolin

Talk Tennis Guru
If I recall, this is kinda how Federer started off too. Genius on the court, but a pretty boring personality outside of it. Turns out "letting the racquet do the talking" works if you're that good :D

Please dont compare Sinner to Roger.

Federer was always exciting to watch and had a huge amount of variety/explosiveness. He also showed a ton of emotion from early on...I remember his first Master's 1000 very well and also him crying when he won his first Wimbledon in 2003.

Sinner is like a tennis cyborg with zero feelings or personality. Bash the serve/fh/bh, repeat, move to next tournament.
 

ND-13

Legend
He seems to be doing pretty good when you look at majors won + endorsements

Check out Forbes' full Top 10 list of the world’s highest paid tennis players—and learn just how much of their earnings also came from off the court:

  1. Carlos Alcaraz — $42.3 million (Off-court: $32 million)
  2. Novak Djokovic — $37.2 million (Off-court: $25 million)
  3. Coco Gauff — $27.1 million (Off-court: $20 million)
  4. Iga Swiatek — $26.7 million (Off-court: $15 million)
  5. Jannik Sinner — $26.6 million (Off-court: $15 million)
  6. Rafael Nadal — $23.3 million (Off-court: $23 million)
 

Cabeza del Demonio

Professional
Please dont compare Sinner to Roger.

Federer was always exciting to watch and had a huge amount of variety/explosiveness. He also showed a ton of emotion from early on...I remember his first Master's 1000 very well and also him crying when he won his first Wimbledon in 2003.

Sinner is like a tennis cyborg with zero feelings or personality. Bash the serve/fh/bh, repeat, move to next tournament.
You've got a point, but remember Borg. Being a larger-than-life stoic cyborg can win you a lot of fans.
 

Cabeza del Demonio

Professional
Borg had style, charisma and an aura that Sinner could never dream of.

Jannick almost goes out of his way to look boring.
Jannik's game isn't boring at all IMO. He's one of the most gifted ballstrikers of all time. Always liked his style of play more than Alcaraz, even if I've pretty decisively joined the Carlos corner at this point
 

Shaolin

Talk Tennis Guru
Jannik's game isn't boring at all IMO. He's one of the most gifted ballstrikers of all time. Always liked his style of play more than Alcaraz, even if I've pretty decisively joined the Carlos corner at this point

Its more his look that Im referring to, the hat and nondescript style. Borg had long hair, signature style and rock star presence.

Sinner is def a natural ballstriker and one of the cleanest, biggest hitters on tour. He has a very successful career ahead of him.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Please dont compare Sinner to Roger.
He also showed a ton of emotion from early on.

..and beyond the early years, continued to display a pissy attitude on court (especially when things were not going his way), cursed at lines people and umpires...yes, he was emotional.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
If I recall, this is kinda how Federer started off too. Genius on the court, but a pretty boring personality outside of it. Turns out "letting the racquet do the talking" works if you're that good :D
Young Federer was a hot head, and more of a headcase than Safin at that time (1999-2002 time). Hewitt was the excellent one mentally from that generation from the beginning, in that he thrived on competing and getting under opponents' skin in matches.

Federer's former coach Peter Carter died in August 2002, and it changed Federer. Federer was suddenly like "I cannot waste my tennis talent and tennis potential anymore". Federer's consistency went up several levels in the latter months of 2002 already. Prior to this change in Federer, he would have the odd good tournament (even a few brilliant ones like 2002 Hamburg) but he would also have terrible performances and early losses. Safin was honestly more consistent than Federer at the time, and delivered more often, despite Safin's own headcase issues.

Federer still had the odd frailty in 2003, but they were much fewer. In 2004, he started dominating.
 

Shaolin

Talk Tennis Guru
Young Federer was a hot head, and more of a headcase than Safin at that time (1999-2002 time). Hewitt was the excellent one mentally from that generation from the beginning, in that he thrived on competing and getting under opponents' skin in matches.

Federer's former coach Peter Carter died in August 2002, and it changed Federer. Federer was suddenly like "I cannot waste my tennis talent and tennis potential anymore". Federer's consistency went up several levels in the latter months of 2002 already. Prior to this change in Federer, he would have the odd good tournament (even a few brilliant ones like 2002 Hamburg) but he would also have terrible performances and early losses. Safin was honestly more consistent than Federer at the time, and delivered more often, despite Safin's own headcase issues.

Federer still had the odd frailty in 2003, but they were much fewer. In 2004, he started dominating.


Tour Finals 2003 was really the turning point for him.

He beat Agassi twice, Nalbandian and Hewitt, all players that had given him trouble and from then on was a completely changed man.

The Agassi RR was an absolute classic and nail biter.. then Fed destroyed Andre in the final.
 
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