Joe AlwynPhoto: Indigo Lewin
Five days out from Wimbledon, the man who’s tipped to walk away from SW19 with this year’s Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy took a break from training for an intimate dinner with Gucci. A superstar in his native Italy (where his distinctive mop of auburn curls has seen him christened the Fox), 22-year-old Jannik Sinner’s international profile is growing by the day, as evidenced by the clutch of A-listers who joined Gucci’s guest of honor at Mount Street Restaurant in Mayfair on Wednesday night, where artworks by Matisse and Freud overlooked tables lined with florals in host Sabato De Sarno’s signature Ancora red.
Among the VIPs sitting down to asparagus with vinaigrette and poached seabass? Ryan Gosling, who dressed for a steamy summer’s night in London in a silk Gucci bowling shirt, white jeans and Converse trainers; and Salma Hayek, ever the bombshell in a strict pencil skirt and heels. British friends of the brand also turned out to toast the top seed, including London boy Joe Alwyn, One Love leading man Kingsley Ben-Adir and Bridgerton newcomer Hannah Dodd.
Sinner, tall and tanned in Gucci tailoring, looked every bit as comfortable moonlighting in the fashion world as he does on court, where his killer backhand has already seen him dispatch some of the greats (think Novak Djokovic, who was defeated by the Italian upstart in a stunning upset in January). Last year, he led Italy to its first Davis Cup victory since 1976, a national triumph of such import it was remarked upon by the Pope. “You could feel that it was something big,” Sinner said of Italy’s response in the June issue of Vogue. “To see people happy, that makes me happy.”
The hallowed grass of the All England Club now beckons for the world number one, where he will no doubt make his fans in Italy (and beyond) very happy indeed.