"I don't know if we can overcompliment Jannik Sinner" - Andy Roddick lauds the Italian after dominant ATP Finals win
Andy Roddick heaped praise on Jannik Sinner for his impressive performances at the ATP Finals. The Italian won the season-ending championships in Turin after defeating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Sinner defeated the likes of Alex de Minaur, Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud before his victory in the title clash. The World No. 1 thus became the first Italian champion at the ATP Finals and the first player to win the tournament without dropping a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986.
Roddick spoke on Sinner's dominant run in Turin, claiming that it was similar to a very good junior's path to victory at a statewide tournament for players aged 16 and under. The American also pointed out the set of pressures that the Italian could have faced, including his doping scandal.
"This looks like the route to victory of, like a 16-and-under statewide tournament if you're a really good junior. Honestly, like, I'm not sure where you go, what you do, and we haven't even approached all the pressure set of never having won in Italy, well he didn't care about that.
'You're World No. 1, how are you going to perform every year?' Forget about that. There is a virus out of Paris, forget about the drugs scenario, let's just forget about that. And then, the beatings on the best players in the world for an entire week," Roddick said.
Andy Roddick also said that Jannik Sinner's performances at the ATP Finals had "no errors".
"I mean, I don't know that we can overcomplement this guy on how he played this week. There were just no errors, like he will miss a shot, maybe one or two a set, but it's the right shot, it's an aggressive miss and then he is right back to work.
With his serve going the way it's going down, if you run back what the book was on Sinner three years ago, it was like, 'Okay well, his serve is good, not great, maybe he is not as strong as he could be, maybe when he gets stronger, he is going to get out of the corners, in big matches, maybe he gets a little bit tight.' None of those exist anymore. Talk about progress," he added.
The ATP Finals is Sinner's eighth title of what has been an extraordinary season for him.
Jannik Sinner's ATP Finals win takes his tournament tally in 2024 to 8
Jannik Sinner won two Grand Slams at the Australian Open and the US Open, beating Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz in the respective finals.
Apart from his Grand Slam exploits, Sinner also won three Masters 1000 titles. The Italian successfully defended his title at the Miami Open after beating Grigor Dimitrov in the final. He also won the Cincinnati after getting the better of Frances Tiafoe in the title.
Sinner's third Masters 1000 triumph came at the Shanghai Masters after defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. He also won two ATP 500 events in Rotterdam and Halle, defeating Alex de Minaur and Hubert Hurkacz in the respective title clashes.
Jannik Sinner will finish 2024 with 70 wins out of 76 matches and as the World No. 1, having 11,830 points to his name. The 23-year-old is next scheduled to join the Italian team at the Davis Cup knockout stages in Malaga. The defending champion will take on Argentina, with the winner facing either the United States or last year's runner-up Australia in the semifinals.