Jannik Sinner
PROS: After Djokovic defeated the 20-year-old Sinner at the Monte Carlo Open, he lavished praise on him. “[Jannik] has got a lot of talent, and he has proven that he is the future of our sport,” Djokovic said. “Actually, he is the present of our sport
[having] played a final [in an] ATP
Masters 1000 [event] already. He is making big strides in professional tennis.”
Those 2021 strides include a career-high No. 9 ranking and four titles — an ATP 500 tournament in Washington, and 250 events at Melbourne, Sofia, and
Antwerp, all on hard courts. The slender, 6'2" Italian also reached the Miami Open final and the round of 16 at the French and US Opens. Not bad for a champion skier who switched to tennis at age 13 and ranked just No. 763 at the end of 201■.
Sinner plays much like Djokovic, but with more groundstroke power that overwhelms most opponents. Unlike the Serb, the uncommonly mature Sinner has remarkable equanimity, regardless of the score or his playing level.
How well and consistently Sinner strikes his backhand down the line will prove critical because most top players go for inside-out forehands and leave themselves out of position.
CONS: Sinner’s only major sin is predictability. His non-stop aggressive game usually overpowers opponents, but he needs more versatility and variety to keep them guessing and off-balance.
He also has to add more spin and pace to his second serve to prevent foes from attacking it, as No. 49 Frances Tiafoe did when he upset Sinner at the Vienna Open.