“Failed four times”: Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner in ongoing two-wheel struggle
Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner has spoken about his continued difficulty passing his motorcycle licence test.
Jannik Sinner is the leading light in a wave of Italian sporting success, but even he has his struggles in everyday life.
This week Sinner has entered his 80th week as the ATP World No. 1 tennis player after successfully defending the Wimbledon title he won for the first time in 2025 in a final last Sunday (July 12) against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.
Sinner is one of a selection of Italian sporting talents that have excelled in 2026. Italy, of course, is not at the football World Cup this year for the third consecutive edition, but alongside Sinner there have been the likes of F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, biathletes Lisa Vittozzi and Tommaso Giacomel, downhill skiers Giovanni Franzoni and Federica Brignone, and Sinner’s fellow tennis player Flavio Cobolli have all excelled in their respective sporting disciplines this year.
More recently, the discourse around Sinner specifically had been unusually negative for a world’s-best tennis player after his collapse from certain victory to an agonising five-set defeat in the second round of the French Open in May, having gone into the tournament as the overwhelming favourite.
Wimbledon became a chance – for the second year in a row after losing the epic 2025 French Open final to Carlos Alcaraz – to put right the wrongs of Roland-Garros for Sinner, and he took that opportunity by making it to the final and beating the aforementioned Zverev for the ninth consecutive time.
Sinner’s run into the tournament was not straightforward, though, not only for the Roland-Garros second round exit six weeks before, but also because he failed his motorcycle licence test shortly before travelling to England.
The Italian, who was born and grew up in the German-speaking town of Sexten in South Tyrol near the Austrian border, had previously failed his motorcycle test three times. The one before Wimbledon 2026 was his fourth failure, as he noted during the champions’ dinner on Sunday evening, a few hours after winning the final against Zverev.
“I’ve failed it four times,” Sinner said when he was asked during the ball about his troubles on two wheels.
“Before coming here, I failed once again.
“Maybe next year you ask me the same question.”
Although he hasn’t passed his motorcycle test, Sinner has often been seen riding a Vespa around Monaco, where he lives and where he won the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament for the first time earlier this year as part of a run of six consecutive ATP Masters 1000 level titles. Monaco regulations allow for scooters up to 125cc and with a maximum power output of 11kW (15bhp) to be ridden on a category B drivers' licence.
The 24-year-old has also made clear his enjoyment of motorsports in the past, mostly through his ambassadorship with F1, but also made mention of MotoGP rider Marco Bezzecchi earlier this year after he won the Miami Open in late March on the same day as Bezzecchi won the US Grand Prix.
