Jannik Sinner shows true colours with kind act during Shanghai Masters

Jannik Sinner showed his true colours with a heartwarming gesture at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday as he consoled a ball girl who was struck by his opponent's serve. The World No.1 dispatched Taro Daniel in three straight sets in the round of 64 to sail into the next stage of the tournament.

However, Sinner's scintilating performance wasn't the only thing that caught the eye on social media. With the match heading in Sinner's favour, Daniel unleashed a powerful serve that ultimately strayed out.

However the Japanese player's fierce, yet wayward strike, hit the ballgirl who was standing at the back of the court. Following the clattering, the young girl looked in discomfort. Sinner, the the Australian Open champion, took time out from the match and approached her to ask if she was alright.

While the ball girl confirmed that she was fine to continue, Sinner's kind act drew admiration from the crowd as they cheered and clapped at the Italian's empathic display. The commentator also addressed the moment by declaring Sinner's basic, but gentle, gesture as "nice."

Despite some off-court controversy in recent times, Sinner has been gaining a reputation as one of the game's good guys. Following a spate of moments which have helped endear him to crowds, the two-time Grand Slam champion also recently warmed hearts as he visited a group of young footballers just three days after after winning the US Open.

While Sinner could have elected to bask in the limelight of his huge success, he returned to Italy to help out the next generation of sporting stars. Eschewing any glitzy engagements, one of his first public appearances following his victory at Flushing Meadows was at a kids' football training session in Bruneck, where he turned up to give the children a pep talk.

Sinner's sportsmanship was also in the spotlight following his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the China Open just days before the Shanghai Masters. The two-time Wimbledon champion put a halt to Sinner's 15-match winning streak with a 6-7 6-4 7-6 victory in Beijing.

However despite the loss no doubt being a tough pill to swallow for the Italian, Sinner was full of praise for his young rival. Speaking after the loss, he said: “I’d like to start with Carlos and your team. You’re doing an amazing job. I wish you only the best. You have a great team and family behind you.

“Hopefully we’ll play a couple of more times in the future, I’m quite sure [we will]. It’s a big pleasure to share the court with you - so thank you so much."

While Alcaraz seemed to share the opinion many tennis fans now have of the Italian superstar, saying: "You are a great person. I respect you a lot as a player, but more as a person."

Sinner beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2 to reach the last-16 in Shaghai on Sunday. Carlos Alcaraz also beat wildcard Wu Yibing 7-6 (5), 6-3 and, with both Sinner and the Spanish star in the same side of the draw, another blockbuster clash between the pair could be closing in.