Tennis Updates 2024: Unlocking Jannik Sinner’s Tennis Brilliance; A Comprehensive Analysis
You know you’re unique when Serena Williams says she wishes she could hit her forehand like you do. Yes, Jannik Sinner is the one that was complimented by the American icon in Miami over the weekend.
With victories at the Australian Open, ATP 500 Rotterdam, and Miami Open Masters on Sunday, the Italian is 22-1 on the season thus far. His only loss of 2024 came against Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semifinals.
Alcaraz is so unique and better than anyone else on the tour right now. When you combine that with his incredible finish to 2023—he won titles in Beijing and Vienna, advanced to the ATP Finals, and helped Italy win the Davis Cup—you have a player who is regarded as the finest available for men right now.
Sinner had a full game, although not one as spectacular as his fellow young adversary Alcaraz, led by that potent forehand. But in recent months, certain essential components of his game have improved with age, enabling the 22-year-old to dominate the hard-court opening stretch of the season and win 16 straight games to start.
Baseline Play
Sinner has always had really good base play, but right now it’s at an all-time high. It was just as painful in Miami. Tennis Data Innovations, which is available on the ATP website, states that until the quarterfinals, Sinner’s conversion score—which measures the proportion of points earned when a player is attacking during a point—remained above 80%, which is a whopping 15% higher than the average for players on the circuit.
In the first three Miami matches, Sinner had defeated opponents in 67% of his baseline fights, more than 5% more than the next best (Alexander Zverev). In the competition’s business end, Sinner’s precise ball-striking and court-side control were also apparent. In the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game, he dropped just 13 games and defeated Grigor Dimitrov by winning 57% of the baseline points. Not only did the renowned forehand speak for itself. Sinner made 57 backhand groundstrokes in the championship round with no unforced errors.
Short and Beautiful
Even though Sinner is most comfortable playing from the baseline, he was a noticeable presence in shorter rallies throughout the Australian Open. The Italian was in charge of the longer rallies and more deadly in those under four shots, marking his first Grand Slam victory of the year in Melbourne.
59% of Sinner’s points in the seven matches in Melbourne occurred between 0–4 shots, 24% between 5-8 shots, and 17% over nine shots, according to data from Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers. In points of 0–4 shots, Sinner won 112 more than he lost (467–355), for a success percentage of 57%, better than points of 5-8 shots (54%) and 9+ shots (51%).
Sinner lost more points than he gained in the 0–4 shots rally length play against Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals and final, respectively. In the 5-8 shots (–6) and over nine shots (–1) patterns, Sinner gave up more points than he scored.
Read Also: The Future of Men’s Tennis: Alcaraz and Sinner Ready to Dominate
Serve Effectiveness
The Sinner serve appears to have significantly improved since a modified service motion was implemented in the middle of the previous season. Although there is still need for improvement, it has greatly improved from its previous state.
Sinner’s serve efficacy increased from 61.6% in January–June 2023 to 64.9% in June–November 2023, according to TDI Insights data on the ATP website. During that time, he increased the percentage of his service games won from 84% to 89% and the percentage of break points saved from 66% to 75%.
Points of Pressure
Sinner’s mindset is evolving along with his game. According to the ATP website, Sinner is only second to Djokovic in terms of the players who have won the most pressure points in the previous 52 weeks. Break points won in ties, break points converted, and break points saved are examples of pressure points.
With a “under pressure” rating of 247.9, Sinner is ranked second on the ranking, barely after Djokovic, the 24-time Slam champion (254.1). Break points saved is the most notable statistic. Sinner has the greatest percentage of all the top 10 players on that list, with 73.4%.
“He has a lot of faith in the present, doesn’t he? His year’s end last year was quite beneficial to him. One of Sinner’s instructors, Darren Cahill, told the ATP that Sinner had grown significantly over the last 12 months.
This season, for the first three months, Sinner has been completely dominant. But over the next few months, the clay court swing will be his biggest test. Only one of his thirteen titles—twelve on hard surfaces—has occurred on clay. But don’t be shocked if the explosive Sinner show goes on if he does manage to drop his season-opening form and level.
