Tim Henman became a Jannik Sinner “superfan” after watching the Italian lift the trophy at the ATP Finals.
The retired British tennis star covered the tournament for Sky Sports. After interviewing the champion on court, he returned to co-presenters Gigi Salmon and Laura Robson decked out in a Sinner cap and matching sign.
But it quickly became apparent that Henman had cheekily taken the hat from a young supporter in the crowd
It’s been Sinner mania all week in Turin. The Italian was playing his first tournament on home soil this year at the season-ending championships.
The city went all out to support their man. There were Sinner posters up in the nearby train stations and the Nike store in Turin released a limited edition collection of caps adored with the star’s custom logo.
After finishing as the runner-up in 2023, Sinner was hoping to go one better. And he did it – finishing off an incredible week by beating Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 to lift the trophy in front of a home crowd.
The fans inside the Inalpi Arena erupted into chants of “ole Sinner” as he lifted the trophy. His supporters came decked out and ready to support him, sporting orange hats and t-shirts, with some even holding real carrots.
Henman made sure to get involved with the action and suddenly appeared on Sky Sports wearing one of the orange caps with Sinner’s logo, while holding a home-made cardboard sign covered in drawings of carrots which read: “Forza. No. 1 Sinner.”
Co-presenter Salmon turned to Robson and said: “Laura we have a Jannik Sinner superfan who’s joined us.” The former world No. 4 was happy to take the label. “Absolutely! I’m part of the fan club now,” he exclaimed.
Salmon quickly broke the facade, revealing that Henman’s cap was taken from a fan. “Did you take that baseball cap off of a poor young boy?” she asked. But he had another story.
“Jannik just gave it to me, he went to his bag and he said, you’ve been here all week and supporting and he said how good my interviews are and the support for him and his team, and he gave it to me,” Henman quipped.
“That poor young boy is missing his baseball cap,” Salmon added. “I hope you’re going to give that baseball cap back to that young boy over there.”
While Sinner didn’t gift him a cap, the newly-crowned ATP Finals champion did speak to Henman on court after the match. The world No. 1 said: “It’s a very special feeling, special moment.
“I played some very good tennis throughout the week. At times, I couldnt play better actually, so I’m very happy how I handled every situation on and off the court.
“It was a very difficult, also very positive week, sharing the moment with so many Italian fans and also the team and people who aren’t here, sharing this amazing feeling.”
