Jannik Sinner defended his Australian Open title after a straight-set victory against opponent Alexander Zverev on January 26. When he returned to Italy, he was invited to the Quirinale (President’s residence) but declined the offer for reasons unclear to the public.

The Quirinale hosted Italian tennis stars to celebrate the success of their country in the Davis Cup, and Billie Jean King Cup and to honor individual achievements like Lorenzo Musetti’s Olympic bronze among others. However, the absence of world no. 1 and quite arguably the ‘star’ of the show from an event of such grandeur has sparked several speculations.

A video of the event was shared by the parliament, showcasing many well-known tennis stars like Mateo Berrentini, Jasmine Paolini, Angelo Binaghi, and Sara Errani to name a few as they met President Sergio Mattarella:

Italian dailies La Repubblica and La Gazzetta dello Sport posted stating that the reason for Sinner’s absence was his need for rest after three hectic weeks in Australia.

As expected, the Italians were divided in their opinions on this matter.

“He’s already done it in the past. He doesn’t need to repeat it everytime he wins something. Let the other players get some much-deserved attention instead,” said a user on X, replying to a post explaining the matter.

“@janniksin is free. Free to decide, free to dictate his own agenda (translated from Italian),” tweeted another user in support of Jannik.

“From the President of the Republic, the highest institution of the State, we go. It is a question of respect and at the same time of example. Above all, the latter, towards the many young people who follow him,” wrote another user. (Translated from Italian)

In reply to the tweet above, a user said that the issue is not as big as it is made to be by the people and media.

“Jannik went to Mattarella several times, I don’t think the president will have a seizure if Jannik didn’t go this time and I don’t even think Mattarella is so stupid as to make it a matter of state especially knowing how sinner he is,” he wrote. (translated from Italian)

Some questioned the 23-year-old’s decision owing to his respect towards the President, while some supported his decision to take some time off from his professional commitments.

Jannik Sinner withdraws from the ATP 500 Rotterdam Open

After a successful start to the 2025 season with a Grand Slam win, star player Jannik Sinner has decided to opt out from the ATP 500 (ABN AMRO Open) scheduled to be held from February 3 onwards in Rotterdam.

“After consulting with my team we had to take the difficult decision to withdraw from the ABN AMRO Open,” Sinner said in a statement.

He stated that he needs rest and even though he would have loved to defend his title at Rotterdam this year, he has to take this difficult decision to perform better moving forward.