Jannik Sinner is back on the practice court preparing to embark on another ATP Tour season in 2026.
The Italian superstar enjoyed a stellar season on the Tour this year, winning two Grand Slam titles and the ATP Finals.
Although Sinner missed out on the year-end world number one spot to Carlos Alcaraz, he will surely be mightily pleased with his achievements.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
The 23-year-old was recently spotted practising with Italian former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, and has since taken to the court alongside another Italian star.
Jannik Sinner has been practising with Luciano Darderi
On Wednesday, Sinner practised with world number 26 Luciano Darderi at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Darderi, 23, posted videos of him practising with the world number two on his Instagram story.
The Italian has enjoyed a breakout year on the ATP Tour, winning three titles – in Marrakech, Båstad, and Umag.
Although Darderi endured a difficult end to the season, he remains one of the brightest young talents on Tour and is certainly a player to keep an eye on in 2026.
As for Sinner, he confirmed in early December that his first tournament of 2026 will be the Australian Open, meaning he will miss warm-up events in Adelaide and Brisbane.
However, the 23-year-old will compete in an exhibition event against Carlos Alcaraz in South Korea on January 10.
Jannik Sinner could make history at the Australian Open
The Italian will head into the first portion of 2026 hoping to win the Australian Open for a third successive year.
When excluding Novak Djokovic, no player has won the Australian Open Men’s Singles title thrice consecutively since Roy Emerson in 1967.
Novak Djokovic is the tennis GOAT… Prove us wrong
In fact, Emerson, who has won the most Davis Cup titles of any player in history, won five consecutive titles in Melbourne, from 1963 to 1967.
After winning the 2025 final against Alexander Zverev, Sinner told reporters in Melbourne: “Well, it was an amazing performance from my side. I felt like I was in the beginning of the match serving really well and trying to get into the zone very fast.
“It was a very high-quality from my side. Second set, got a bit lucky in the tiebreak, as we saw.
“All things considered, amazing run again here in Australia. I’m extremely happy. Sharing this with the team here and family and the people I love, it’s amazing.”
