Jannik Sinner Said Model Lara Leito Isn't His Girlfriend. He's Single
Professional tennis player Jannik Sinner has explained his dating status after rumors emerged that he has a model girlfriend.
Sinner gave the clarification after pictures emerged showing him walking with model Lara Leito. To be clear, he said that he's single. Sinner doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend - although he used to have the latter.
Sinner defeated tennis legend Novak Djokovic on June 6 in a thrilling semi-final match at the French Open. He now heads to the finals.
In April, Sports Illustrated reported that rumors had circulated that Sinner was "now dating Lara Lieto. She is a 31-year-old Russian model who previously dated actor Adrien Brody." Although SI spelled her name Lieto, most sites give it as Leito.
However, in May, Sinner told reporters that he was not dating Leito or anyone. He had a tennis pro girlfriend named Anna Kalinskaya, but they broke up, SI reported.
“There’s a lot of attention,” Sinner said then, according to Tennis Up to Date.
“Also, off the court, I was surprised to see some pictures, which, nothing serious. I’m not in a relationship," he said, according to that site, which added that Leito "was seen with Sinner at the Monte-Carlo Tennis Club."
People reported that Sinner's comments came at an Italian Open press conference.
According to SI, Sinner, of Italy, split with "longtime girlfriend and professional tennis player Anna Kalinskaya in late 2024."
SI shared an Instagram post by the site Chi Magazine that contained photos of Sinner with a woman. The page wrote, "Sinner and the new girlfriend Lara! Who is she?"
According to People, Kalinskaya is a professional tennis player from Russia.
People noted that Sinner confirmed he was dating Kalinskaya in 2024, and then they were spotted together at Wimbledon.
He told Vanity Fair Italia that he tries to keep his dating life private.
"I like to talk about tennis, and about the sport in general. But if you're referring to private life, it's true, I want to keep it that way. I want to protect the people who are closest to me, keeping them out of this. I live it as a small task to be carried out, almost a duty: they helped me, as a young man, to acquire security in myself, and today in some way I want to protect them," he said.
"During the tournaments, I am very focused. But I think it's a beautiful thing when you find a love," he said to the publication, adding that the "best tennis players in the world all have... (a) wife and children.”
Related: Jack Draper Says Tennis Makes It Hard to Have a Girlfriend