Jannik Sinner’s 17-word response to question he ‘cannot answer’ speaks volumes about his mentality

Jannik Sinner echoed a famous quote from Rafael Nadal as he responded to a question from Tennis365 about his remarkable Masters 1000 streak.

The world No 1 defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3 at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic exhibition at the Hurlingham Club in London on Wednesday.

Sinner will next aim to defend his title at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, which will get underway on Monday 29 June.

The Italian star is currently on a record 34-match winning streak at Masters 1000 tournaments, having secured six consecutive titles at this level, starting with the 2025 Paris Masters.

By winning Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome this year, Sinner made history by becoming the first player ever to win the first five Masters 1000 events of the season.

While Sinner has been untouchable at Masters 1000 level, his fourth and most recent Grand Slam title was his maiden Wimbledon triumph just under a year ago, and he suffered painful exits at the first two majors in 2026.

The 24-year-old was beaten in five sets by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals in January, ending his bid for a third straight crown in Melbourne.

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Sinner was then the overwhelming favourite to win the 2026 French Open, where he was bidding to complete the career Grand Slam.

However, he fell to a shock five-set second round defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo after suffering a dramatic physical collapse, having led by two sets and 5-1 in the third set.

After watching Sinner’s Hurlingham win from courtside, Tennis365 posed a hypothetical scenario to the Italian during a press conference.

Q. If you had the chance, would you trade winning the first five Masters 1000 titles of the season for winning one of the first two Grand Slams, or would you keep those titles?

Sinner began his response by alluding to Nadal’s legendary “if, if, if… doesn’t exist” press conference answer before saying he “cannot answer” the question.

Sinner: “Uh… if, if doesn’t… (smiles). I don’t know. I don’t know. I cannot answer this (laughs), but good question, okay… (laughs).”

During the Madrid Open last month, Sinner said: “I don’t play for these records, or I don’t play for records in general. I play for myself. I play for my team, because they know what’s behind.

“Also my family, because with the success I’ve had, they also never changed how they are towards me… It means, of course, a lot, great numbers. But there is a lot of discipline, a lot of sacrifice behind this.”

The world No 1’s refusal to dwell on the ‘what if’ question was a telling insight into his mentality and suggests he approaches his career in a similar way to Nadal, which can only be a positive thing.

Rather than looking back, Sinner’s focus is firmly on collecting his first Grand Slam title of the year at the All England Club, and he is a strong favourite to accomplish this.

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