Eighteen days would have been long enough for Daniel Altmaier to ruminate on his most recent meeting with Jannik Sinner.
The German will look to get quick revenge on the number 2 of the PIF ATP Rankings on Wednesday when they meet in the first round at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. It will be the second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in quick succession, following Sinner’s 6-3, 6-3 victory on October 4 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
“To be honest, I’m very positive about it,” Altmaier told ATPTour.com shortly after being drawn against top-seeded Sinner at the ATP 500. “I’m always really looking forward to getting revenge as soon as possible. I’m the kind of person who really likes the challenge of revenge, so something like that always gets the best out of me. I’m really looking forward to that match.”
“It’s clear that playing against those big boys means playing in front of a big crowd. Here in Vienna too we have a lot of German supporters… To be honest, I’m looking forward to it.”
Even at 27, Altmaier, world number 51, considers himself a player in transition. His efforts to add variety to his game appear to be paying off in 2025, with him achieving a personal best of 18 tour-level wins in a single season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He is hopeful of further extending that record by beating Sinner for the sixth Top 10 win of his career on Wednesday afternoon.
“I think I have different styles of play that I’m really working on at the moment to become a better player,” Altmaier said. “One is an aggressive side, and the other is a bit more patient. The mental side is also really crucial. One aspect [with this match] is that we’re at the end of the year, so it’s more mentally challenging. I’m going to sit down with my team and see what tactics are best to get into the match. As the game develops, we will adapt.”
Altmaier knows what it will take to beat Sinner. At Roland Garros in 2023, he outlasted the Italian and then the world number 9 in five sets in a marathon of five hours and 26 minutes. That win came just a few months before Sinner won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto, kicking off a scintillating run of form that has hardly let up since.
“It was a great win, this one,” Altmaier said of his 2023 second-round win against Sinner in Paris. “[But since then] he has definitely become a consistent player who has dominated the Tour with Carlos [Alcaraz]which is a fact. I think you have to respect that, and I really enjoy seeing what other guys do with their game to become so consistent. I am someone who really looks left and right to see and choose the best things for me.”
Just four spots shy of his career-high in the PIF ATP Rankings, Altmaier is aiming for a late-season rise on Europe’s indoor hardcourts to cap off a career-best year that he nevertheless acknowledges has not always gone to plan.
“I have developed a lot as a player this year, both mentally and personally, but I have won more games and become more consistent,” said the German. “I’ve also had my challenges throughout the year. Changes in my team have had a big effect on me, but I think I’m happy to be in this position, close to my best ranking, and there is only the opportunity to move up in the next three or four months.”
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