In the foothills of the Dolomites, a champion was made

Sinner's first coach was family friend Andreas Schönegger. Having given the infant Sinner an introduction to life on skis in his fourth winter, he was entrusted with tennis lessons the following summer. Sinner was a slight child - often the smallest in his group - but what he lacked in physical presence he more than made up for in talent. The renowned Piatti Tennis Centre is also in Italy, but in a town very different to Sexten. Bordighera is on the Italian Riviera, bracketed by the sea, with a beach and an exotic garden referenced by painter Claude Monet. There is no snow, no skiing, and very little German spoken. Founder Riccardo Piatti - who had already enjoyed great success with Milos Raonic and Ivan Ljubicic, and worked with a teenage Novak Djokovic - initially thought Sinner was too young for the move. But Sinner had made up his mind and, with his parents as advocates, Piatti relented. He decided Sinner should spend every fourth week back in the mountains - reconnecting with family, friends and schoolwork - but his prodigy soon decided he wanted to become a full-time student of the tennis academy. Sinner admits it was a tough transition. His Italian was limited, his English even more so, and he had very much been a part-time player until that point. "I never went to the gym before, never played more than a couple of times a week before, and then everything changed," Sinner told me at May's Italian Open. "I was struggling to get used to the new conditions for my body. "But it's been an amazing experience and I would do it again, because it makes me grow as a person." Piatti could see he had all the ingredients for life at the top. "95% of his life is tennis. He thinks in tennis," Piatti said. "He lives his life, but he is thinking always about tennis, in which ways he can do better. "I think it is part of his character and also part of the people around him." Sinner split from Piatti after he had reached his second Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2022 Australian Open. He was a top-10 player, and the winner of five ATP Tour titles, but felt the time had come for a fresh perspective. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have dominated men’s tennis in 2025. BBC Sport looks at the evolution of their growing rivalry – and where it could go next. Before Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam, he was simply Carlitos from Murcia. This is his story.