Rovesciarete
Hall of Fame
Jannik Sinner's brilliant final run of 2023 has cemented his status as one of the very best (indoor) hardcourt players. In fact according to Elo only Djokovic is, slightly, ahead of him. Big success on clay has eluded him despite the perception of him was quite different in 2021 when Jeff Sackmann wrote about his missing first serve points:
His last three seasons on clay have been quite disappointing for many but it masks the fact that he has been performing quite well if you look at stats and Elo. In 2024 clay be a far more important surface than usual as the Olympics are a huge draw for many players including Djokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz and Sinner.*
Jannik's game seems to be suited very well to win a lot on clay. His game relies less on the serve but will profit greatly from the recent improvements. His ability to win return games is in a cluster with the absolute best of the sport and he is one of the best ball strikers on the tour. His backhand has become more solid and more varied and is able to deliver sharper angles and better down the line attacks with high levels of spin. His forehand is tremendous and can be flattened out, delivered with heavy weight or rolled over will lots of spin. Time permitting he likes to run around it to go big inside out or inside in which works generally well on clay.
The combination of his skills and a height of 193 or 6'4'' should allow him to be aggressive against high bouncing balls and to take time away. Resilience against heavy balls must improve as he lost against big ball strikers like Rune, Cerundolo and Altmaier. As one of the best drop shot makers on the tour and a strong net player he can mix the game up nicely against opponents defending very deep against his powerful ground strokes.
There is no doubt that his physical drop offs have cost him wins but Jannik has become more and more athletic as a result of steady improvement. I doubt that he will reach the pure prowess demonstrated by Alcaraz but he has good chances to go a good way down the Djokovic path, becoming a more enduring competitor.
-------------
The give the Clay poll some perspective: Fognini got 8, Thiem 10, Federer 11 and Djokovic at least 18. Nadal has won over 60!! Jannik won't play that many low level clay tournaments as he will focus on the big ones. With Djokovic one of the greatest clay court competitors is still performing at a very high level and Nadal which has him stopped twice at RG will come back while with Alcaraz one of the greatest tennis talents of the last fifty years has arisen at a younger age. Tsitsipas, Zverev and Ruud are still very active and dangerous on the dirt and Rune will improve. Shelton might be more than a dark horse, especially in Madrid.
*The international tennis community seems to undervalue the importance of the Olympic Games for (European) athletes.
His last three seasons on clay have been quite disappointing for many but it masks the fact that he has been performing quite well if you look at stats and Elo. In 2024 clay be a far more important surface than usual as the Olympics are a huge draw for many players including Djokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz and Sinner.*
Jannik's game seems to be suited very well to win a lot on clay. His game relies less on the serve but will profit greatly from the recent improvements. His ability to win return games is in a cluster with the absolute best of the sport and he is one of the best ball strikers on the tour. His backhand has become more solid and more varied and is able to deliver sharper angles and better down the line attacks with high levels of spin. His forehand is tremendous and can be flattened out, delivered with heavy weight or rolled over will lots of spin. Time permitting he likes to run around it to go big inside out or inside in which works generally well on clay.
The combination of his skills and a height of 193 or 6'4'' should allow him to be aggressive against high bouncing balls and to take time away. Resilience against heavy balls must improve as he lost against big ball strikers like Rune, Cerundolo and Altmaier. As one of the best drop shot makers on the tour and a strong net player he can mix the game up nicely against opponents defending very deep against his powerful ground strokes.
There is no doubt that his physical drop offs have cost him wins but Jannik has become more and more athletic as a result of steady improvement. I doubt that he will reach the pure prowess demonstrated by Alcaraz but he has good chances to go a good way down the Djokovic path, becoming a more enduring competitor.
-------------
The give the Clay poll some perspective: Fognini got 8, Thiem 10, Federer 11 and Djokovic at least 18. Nadal has won over 60!! Jannik won't play that many low level clay tournaments as he will focus on the big ones. With Djokovic one of the greatest clay court competitors is still performing at a very high level and Nadal which has him stopped twice at RG will come back while with Alcaraz one of the greatest tennis talents of the last fifty years has arisen at a younger age. Tsitsipas, Zverev and Ruud are still very active and dangerous on the dirt and Rune will improve. Shelton might be more than a dark horse, especially in Madrid.
*The international tennis community seems to undervalue the importance of the Olympic Games for (European) athletes.
Last edited:
