Jannik Sinner believes the success achieved by him and other younger opponents on the Tour against Novak Djokovic is down to a combination of variety and belief.
The world No.4 made the comment after beating Djokovic to reach his maiden Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. In the match, Sinner didn’t face a single break point against the Serbian who later slammed his performance. He has now won three out of his past four matches against the 24-time Grand Slam champion on the Tour.
Sinner is not the only young player have beaten Djokovic on the Tour. Carlos Alcaraz has done so twice and so has Holger Rune. However, both of those players still trail the head-to-head against him. It is clear that the young guns are starting to make some progress against one of the sport’s all-time greats but how have been able to do so?
“Me, Carlos and Holger, every one of us is a different player. I feel like that also mentally everyone is different, and attitude on the court is different.” Sinner said during his press conference.
“I think what we have in common is that we believe in ourselves in one way, and this helps a lot because in tennis when you believe it’s a huge amount already.’
“We have been really lucky to see him (Djokovic) around and how he’s practising.”
Minuites after his semi-final win in Melbourne Park, Sinner said during his on-court interview that is always ‘nice’ to play somebody that he learns from for his own development. So far in his career, he has won 10 Tour titles and earned more than $17m in prize money.
“This has been always my part of the process because I feel like we still have to improve a lot.” He explains.
“I’m happy to play my first final here in Melbourne but in my mind, I know that I can and still have to improve. So it’s good to have him (Djokovic) around.”
Sinner is now a win away from claiming a major title. Should he succeed he would become the first player player from his country to do so since Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open.
