Sinner at Indian Wells, all his shots

Jannik goes fast. And not only for the impetuous and overwhelming triumphal march that from October to today has led him to tennis paradise, with the victory of his first Slam, success in the Davis Cup and number 3 in the ranking accompanied by the not-so-hidden dream of leaving in pursuit of Djokovic’s record when the tour moves to European clay and grass, but not before attempting to overtake Alcaraz, the second player in the world, already in Indian Wells. The Sinner who will make his debut tomorrow in the first Masters 1000 of the season is the point of reference of the moment, the man to beat, waiting to evaluate the overall condition of the returning Novak. A position of dominance certainly confirmed by the results (open series of 15 matches won, 3 in 2023 and 12 this year), but supported by incontrovertible technical performances

lethal Weapon

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The ATP has just published a very interesting analysis on the Australian Open, which shows that Jannik, during the tournament, finished 59% of his rallies within 4 shots (the tournament average is 66%), 24 % between 5 and 8 shots and 17% over 9 shots. But what matters most is that the Red Fox has a positive balance in all three items: he won 57% of the points in the short rallies, 54% in the medium ones, 51% in the long ones. Therefore, the trend is clear: the champion from Sesto Pusteria was better than his opponents in every phase of the game, but he is deadly when he manages to quickly close the point. Restricting the analysis to the semi-final with Djokovic and the final with Medvedev, we discover that in the short rallies Sinner was the usual machine (162 points against 124 of his rivals), but in the medium ones (69 against 63) and in the long ones (46 against 45) the Serbian and the Russian scored more points overall. However, the relevant fact is another: neither Djoker nor the Russian Bear managed to bring the match to their favorite terrain, that of prolonged exchanges: the absolute majority of exchanges, in fact, even with them remained short (the 56%), to the advantage of the Red Fox. Who built his winning platform first and foremost with the serve, the most advanced shot in the last year and which has now become a lethal weapon: it is no coincidence that, in the last 52 weeks, he is second in terms of games won at serve, behind only Hurkacz. In Rotterdam, to win the tournament, he got 80% points with the first: a year ago, when he lost in the final, it was 74%. But you don’t win a Slam by beating the world number 1 and number 3 by taking away their favorite humus, that of the endurance game, if you don’t have the antidote to try to shorten the rallies even in their service rounds. And Jannik’s return, as we know, is already one of the best ever: still taking last year as a parameter, he is fourth in games won in return but first in points obtained from someone else’s second serve. To these numbers, the winner of the first Slam adds an innate quality, which cannot be taught and is typical of champions: coolness under pressure. It is no coincidence that, again over the 12 months, he is first in break points disallowed (72.4%) and first in decisive sets won (81%).

towards the sky

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In short, Sinner represents the definitive evolution of what is needed to win consistently in today’s tennis: dominating the short rallies (which are now the majority), keeping up the pace when the rallies get longer and then raising the level in points and in the moments that matter most and decide the fate of the challenge. In short, qualities of a number one in the making that have dazzled even an extraordinary legend like Jimmy Connors, lavish with compliments towards the young blue in his very popular podcast: “Sinner had already impressed me at the end of last year for his ability to react immediately to momentary difficulties in the match, always making the right choices, but now he seems really fast. At the beginning I thought Alcaraz was the best of the new generation due to his more varied game, but I realized that now the opponents know how to face him and he he’s not improving. Instead Sinner’s message is clear: “I’m coming”. Now he’s very close to him and I think he’s more motivated: he will soon become the best player in the world.” Two years ago, when amidst many uncertainties the new course began with Vagnozzi, later joined by Cahill, these words might have seemed like a gamble. But patience is the virtue of champions: “When we started – Vagnozzi himself recalled in Rotterdam – the objective was to make him a better player, but these things cannot be done in two months. We tried to slowly lay a brick at a time, improving where he was perhaps a little weaker, because you can’t say that someone who was already world No. 10 was poor. But to consistently beat the best you have to be complete, feel confident on the pitch, not have points weak. I think we’re succeeding.” Higher and higher, Jannik.