Eighteen days will have been long enough for Daniel Altmaier to stew over his most recent meeting with Jannik Sinner.
The German will on Wednesday seek quick revenge against the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings when they meet in the first round at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. It will be the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting in quick succession following Sinner’s 6-3, 6-3 triumph on 4 October at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
“Honestly, I am very positive about it,” Altmaier told ATPTour.com shortly after being drawn against the top-seeded Sinner at the ATP 500. “I’m always really looking forward to having revenge as soon as possible. I’m that kind of guy who really loves the challenge of revenge, so something like that always gets the best out of me. I’m really looking forward to that match.
“Obviously, playing against those big guys comes with playing in front of big crowds. Having a lot of German supporters here in Vienna too… To be honest, I’m looking forward to it.”
Even at 27 years old, the World No. 51 Altmaier considers himself a player in transition. His efforts to add variety to his game appear to have paid off in 2025, during which he has notched a single-season personal-best 18 tour-level victories, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He has high hopes of further extending that record by upsetting Sinner for the sixth Top 10 win of his career on Wednesday afternoon.
“I think I have different game styles that I am really working on currently to become a better player,” said Altmaier. “One is an aggressive side, and the other is a little bit more patient. The mental side is really crucial also. One aspect [with this match] is that we are at the end of the year, so it is mentally more challenging. I’m going to sit down with my team and see which tactic is best to get into the match. Also as the match develops, we are going to adjust.”
Altmaier knows what it takes to defeat Sinner. At 2023 Roland Garros, he outlasted the Italian, then the World No. 9, across five sets in a five-hour, 26-minute marathon. That win came just a few months before Sinner lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto and kick-started a scintillating run of form that has barely ceased since.
“It was a great win, this one,” said Altmaier of his 2023 second-round triumph against Sinner in Paris. "[But since then] he definitely became 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 like seeing what other guys do with their game to become that consistent. I’m someone who really looks left and right to see and pick the best things for me.”
Just four spots shy of his career-high in the PIF ATP Rankings, Altmaier is seeking a late-season surge on the indoor hard-courts of Europe to cap a career-best year that he nonetheless acknowledges has not always gone to plan.
“I developed a lot as a player this year, on the mental side and the personal side, but have been winning more matches and have become more consistent,” said the German. “I also had my challenges throughout the year. Changes in my team, which 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, for the next three or four months, the opportunity to go up.
