The coach of Novak Djokovic says he is impressed by the improvements Jannik Sinner has made to his game after the Italian lost in the final of the ATP Finals on Sunday.
Goran Ivanisevic believes the world No.4 can become one of the most dominant forces in the world of tennis, alongside two-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner has recorded 12 victories over top 10 players this season, including Djokovic, with four of those occurring at the season-ending event in Turin. His run was ended by Djokovic who beat him in straight sets to win the ATP Finals title for a record seventh time.
Despite that loss, former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic believes the 22-year-old is heading in the right direction. Sinner is currently coached by Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi. He has won four ATP trophies in 2023 with the most prestigious of those being at the Canadian Masters.
“I’m a big fan of Jannik. I’ve followed him since he was a junior and I have great respect for him,” Ivanisevic told reporters on Sunday.
“I like his tennis. I think with his team in the last year he has improved a lot. He improved his serve and his coming to the net. He’s playing much better volleys.”
“We saw this week (at the ATP Finals) and this year is a Jannik Sinner who unfortunately in the semifinals of Wimbledon played Novak. We saw a Jannik Sinner who can win, and he believes that he can win Grand Slams.”
Continuing his praise of Sinner, the Croat says he is one of two youg players who are ‘two steps ahead’ of their peers on the Tour. The other he mentions is Alcaraz who lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals in Turin and afterwards admitted that he needs to improve his game further to compete against the Serbian on indoor courts.
“For me, there are two young players two steps in ahead of everyone else. One is Carlos Alcaraz. The second one is Jannik Sinner. Jannik Sinner is catching up. These two guys for me, they’re going to be future of the tennis.” He said.
“Carlos already won two Grand Slams and he’s the future of tennis. Jannik really stepped up this year. He showed the world and himself that he’s ready next year to win Grand Slams, and he’s not afraid of anybody.”
Meanwhile, Sinner is maintaining an upbeat outlook about his latest defeat. If he had beaten Djokovic in the final, he would have won the biggest title of his career and become the first Italian to triumph at the season-ending event.
“Tennis is interesting because, as you can see, every day is different,” Sinner said. “Some days [ago] I won against him. Here the same conditions again and you lose.
“But I think generally I saw that I still have to improve, for sure. I believe that he makes me a better player, like all the other players have done who I lost to. I now have to work on this.”
As for the year on the Tour overall, Sinner says there have been plenty of positives that he carries heading into the off-season. However, before taking a break, he will be heading to Malaga to take part in the Davis Cup finals where Italy will play the Netherlands in the quarter-finals later this week.
“I think there are many positive things, to be honest,” he said. “I think, especially the second half of the year, mentally I was much, much stronger. I was not complaining so much on court when things were going in the wrong way. I think these kind of things, they make a difference sometimes…
“One of the things where I can be really happy is that I played many, many important matches in the biggest stadiums we have throughout the whole year. This is something what’s hopefully can help for the next season.”
