Lozo1016
Professional
Jannik Sinner's coach Darren Cahill talked briefly about the Sinner-Djokovic match this morning on ESPN. Here's what he said:
In relating it to the Alcaraz-Djokovic match, Chris McKendry noted that Cahill pointed out inexperience moving on a grass court and Alcaraz doesn't have a ton of experience moving on grass either. Cahill said that Alcaraz is moving differently on the grass than Sinner was. Sinner likes to slide and doesn't feel at ease if he has trouble sliding, while Alcaraz is taking those smaller steps as he's moving on the grass.
The one thing that really caught us by surprise in the first 3 or 4 games was how much Novak went to Jannik's strength, and that is the forehand. He did it in the first 3 or 4 games. I thought it was really interesting and a little bit because of the slickness of the court, as well, he exposed the movement. Or, the experience of moving on a grass court between Jannik and Novak was exposed a little bit in those first 4 games.
So he went straight hard and heavy to Jannik's forehand. I think he'll do a little bit the same against Alcaraz. You go to the strength. You're the grass-court player that's won these Championships time and time again. If you break down the strength early, it can let players down.
And you can see, this kind of stayed with Jannik for quite a while. He lost a little confidence in the forehand. He had a couple of chances and then he was shanking the forehand for the 1st set and a half. Eventually, the forehand came back for Jannik and he created chances for himself, but a little bit too late, right? Because you're down a set and a break to Novak it's little bit tough to reel him back in.
In relating it to the Alcaraz-Djokovic match, Chris McKendry noted that Cahill pointed out inexperience moving on a grass court and Alcaraz doesn't have a ton of experience moving on grass either. Cahill said that Alcaraz is moving differently on the grass than Sinner was. Sinner likes to slide and doesn't feel at ease if he has trouble sliding, while Alcaraz is taking those smaller steps as he's moving on the grass.