ROME >> Sure he’s got the biggest and most prestigious trophies. Jannik Sinner, the freshly-crowned U.S. Open champion, hasn’t been the only Italian taking home hardware during an extraordinary year for the country’s tennis movement, though.

Jasmine Paolini was the runner-up at successive Grand Slams, reaching the singles final at both the French Open and Wimbledon — plus the doubles final in Paris with Sara Errani.

Paolini then teamed up with Errani to win gold in the women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics.

Lorenzo Musetti also took home the bronze in the men’s singles for Italy’s first Olympic tennis medal in 100 years.

Then Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the mixed doubles trophy at the U.S. Open days before Sinner’s latest triumph in New York — which cemented his status as No. 1 in the rankings.

Simone Bolelli and Vavassori were also the runners-up in the men’s doubles at the year’s opening two Grand Slams.

Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian tennis and padel federation, said: “We need to prepare ourselves because we’re entering a new era. Do you remember (Bjorn) Borg’s Sweden or (Rafael) Nadal’s Spain? The numbers tell us that this will be Italy’s era. We’re making more and more progress, with the women, too.”

Sinner’s burden

Sinner’s Australian Open title in January made him the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam title in nearly a half-century — since Adriano Panatta raised the French Open trophy in 1976. And now he has two in one year.

Shortly before the U.S. Open started, Sinner was exonerated in a doping case that he had been dealing with for months, but that hadn’t been made public until shortly before play began at Flushing Meadows.

“He won two of the four Slams and played the other two with a huge burden hanging over his shoulders,” Binaghi said.

Next goal

Italy has seven men ranked in the top 50, is the defending Davis Cup champion and has three top doubles teams in Errani-Paolini, Bolelli-Vavassori and Errani-Vavassori, who will aim for more hardware in the mixed events.