“Sinner golden heart”, International speaker 2026 reveals the ‘real’ Jannik in Rome

“I have been collaborating with Fitp for 15 years now,” said Nicoletti all’Adnkronos“I started when, after following the tournament live on the radio, they threw me at the Centrale to present one of the semi-finals. I remember that Roger Federer was there, yet I had never seen a tennis match in my life. I found myself catapulted into the center of the court, I had fun and the following year they asked me to become the official speaker of the tournament. I followed the Next Gen which were held in Italy, the ATP Finals. The calendar is quite busy”.

Tennis is now becoming a national sport in Italy, with the Internationals now recording record participation.

“Every year there is exponential growth. The bar gets higher and higher, both in terms of structures and tennis played. I presented Sinner’s first match on the Centrale, his triumph at the Next Gen. I talked about Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, all the greatest ever. Every year there are always new records of spectators, but I have always seen a lot of people here. Once upon a time the site was smaller and more concentrated, but, apart from perhaps the first two days, I have always seen a Forum It’s packed. Maybe because I was lucky enough to start in years when tennis was already very loved in Italy. After that the growth has been truly exponential. Today the public is engaging, they get involved and there is a very positive atmosphere.”

Which tennis player warms up the audience the most at the Internationals? Maybe he has red hair…

“It would be too easy to answer Sinner. The truth is that all it takes is for there to be an Italian player or a woman on the pitch and the public goes into ecstasy. It’s something you can breathe. This year we saw it with Cocciaretto on Centrale, last year with Paolini’s triumph in both the women’s singles draw and in the doubles team with Sara Errani. But further back I remember Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci, then there was Fabio Fognini and today there is also Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti. They all received the affection of the Italian public. Obviously we have the number 1 and this creates a different atmosphere, but with all the Italians at the Centrale there have always been strong and exciting sensations.”

Can you reveal the Sinner behind the scenes, away from the cameras?

“Temperamentally, I always try to maintain a certain distance with Italian tennis players. I do many tournaments, I am with them for the Davis Cup, for the ATP Finals. In 2021, in the first year of the Finals in Italy and in times of Covid, I was swabbed together with Sinner and Berrettini. With Jannik there is a detached respect, he is a very reserved boy, but I witnessed scenes in which he showed a nice and funny side of himself. Last year he asked me congratulations, he told me that I have a beautiful voice and thanked me. I don’t like to be intrusive, I respect other people’s spaces. He is a really simple boy, who at his age is constantly attacked by the fans, especially here in Rome.”

What is the secret of the perfect speaker?

“To do my job you need to take great care of your voice and diaphragm. Here the tempo changes quickly, you have to be careful. It takes a lot of experience, knowing the audience and understanding when to do certain things and when to avoid them. This applies to the choice of music as well as the voice-over. Since last year I started chanting Jannik’s name, with the audience shouting Sinner in response. It was a bit of a risk, but it worked. This year I proposed it again for all the Italian tennis players in the tournament, with great success. The idea came to me while watching his matches, the enthusiasm of the public passed from the field to the stands, I dared and this risk paid off.” (by Simone Cesarei)