United States of Tennis: Black Girls Tennis Club liberates Black women and girls both on and off the court

Jannik Sinner has made his mark at this year's Miami Open, outlasting Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets for a spot in the final against Hubert Hurkacz. Since September 2020, he's also come to be known, sometimes to amusing effect, as a pitchman for Parmigiano Reggiano, a cheese company.

Sure, 19-year-old red-head Italian Jannik Sinner is great at tennis, but as soon as you realize he’s ALSO sponsored by parmesan cheese, you simply have no choice but to stan.@janniksin pic.twitter.com/48NuVRmBYO
— Jeff Donaldson (@jddtennis) March 31, 2021

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Still a teenager, Sinner is perched at No. 31 in the ATP ranks—and speedily rising. His first major-event dent was crashing the Roland Garros quarterfinals in that infamously delayed 2020 tournament.

Sure Jannik endorsing cheese is great but did he actually make it himself? pic.twitter.com/TWXJYGqZlm
— Henry Breadstick (@henrybreadstick) March 31, 2021

Twitter user Henry Breadstick helpfully points out that others blazed a trail so that Sinner could amble down the same way. Olive-oiled pros Matteo Berrettini and Lesia Tsurenko found a way to turn product-endorsement shoots into workouts. That's some smart multitasking.

Berrettini and Tsurenko, billed at the time (in 2019) as players ranked in the mid-20s, have taken disparate paths since then. The Italian has risen to No. 10 on the ATP Tour, while the Ukrainian has seen that stat dip to No. 144.

Even so, though it seems like a lifetime ago given the era we're in, they sure did put in the work to make that sponsor money. That's shown below, and Sinner might take note of their literal hustle.