Jannik Sinner’s first ATP Tour win and the impression it left… not only on the court | ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner
Flashback: Sinner’s first ATP Tour win and the impression it left… not just on the court
The Italian enjoyed a breakout season in 2019
April 24, 2026
Peter Bor/Hungarian Tennis Association
Jannik Sinner earned his first ATP Tour win of 2019 in Budapest.
Written by Arthur Kapetanakis
Five years before he joined the ATP No. 1 Club in 2024, Jannik Sinner began to climb the PIF ATP Rankings in earnest with a 2019 season full of important moments.
His first major singles title came in February of that season, at an ATP Challenger Tour event on Italian soil in Bergamo. That began a 16-match winning streak that saw him win three titles at all Challenger and ITF levels – a run that none other than Carlos Alcaraz ended that April in Alicante.
Later that month, Sinner accomplished another great feat at the age of 17: After earning a qualifying wild card to the Budapest ATP 250 and finally entering the main draw as a lucky loser, the Italian earned his first ATP Tour match victory on April 24, defeating the former Junior World No. 1 Mate Valkusz.
Winning cross-court, she earned a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 victory on a topsy-turvy red clay match. Sinner’s negative reaction to match point – a sneaky look at his training box – was an early indication of the coolness that would eventually help him climb to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
“They played an amazing first round game with the balls shooting off the racquets like bullets,” said tournament director Attila Richter, who gave Sinner a well-deserved wild card. “Jannik wins in the end, so not only does he get his first wild card into a Tour event, but he also wins his first Tour match in Budapest in 2019.”
For all of Sinner’s tennis talent, it was the off-court action from the Italian that made the biggest impression on Richter. After losing to Laslo Djere in the second round, the 17-year-old asked to speak with Richter. While the tournament director ended the misplaced bond, Sinner waited an hour and a half with his load to personally thank him for a well-deserved wild card.
“That kind of gave me the impression that not only seeing him play tennis, but it also gives you that feeling that you have with Jannik today – what kind of man he really is, how good he is, how good he was brought up and how he behaved,” Richter said. “I remember thinking at the time, ‘Well, if he becomes a good player, he’ll be a star’, because that’s just the personality he has.”
After Budapest, the first year of Sinner continued. In May, he beat Steven Johnson in Rome to record his first ATP Masters 1000 win, and later made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open, making it through before falling to Stan Wawrinka in four sets in the first round.
Sinner closed the 2019 season by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, beating Alex de Minaur in the final. The Italian closed the year at No. 78 in the PIF ATP Rankings, up from No. 551 at the start of the season.
