"Jannik Sinner was a joke" - Andy Roddick shares his feelings about Italian's 'absurd' journey to the title at ATP Finals 2024
Jannik Sinner faced little resistance en route to his maiden ATP Finals this year in Turin, Italy. Andy Roddick was mightily impressed by Sinner's level at the tournament and was stunned to see him romp past every opponent.
Sinner was the top seed at the 2024 ATP Finals and came to the tournament having won 22 of his last 23 matches. The 22-year-old continued his stellar form in Turin, as he did not drop a set and never faced a severe threat from any of his opponents at the year-end championship. Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur (6-3, 6-4), Taylor Fritz (6-4, 6-4), and Daniil Medvedev (6-3, 6-4) in the group stage.
He then went on to better Casper Ruud in the semifinals 6-1, 6-2, and Fritz once again in the tournament's final 6-4, 6-4. Sinner was a level above everyone else in Turin, and his ruthlessness drew plaudits from former ATP World No. 1 Roddick. On the latest episode of the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast, the American shared his thoughts on the recently concluded ATP Finals and found it weird that the tournament did not see many close matches.
Roddick dubbed Sinner's form in Turin "a joke" and was stunned at the scorelines by which the Italian defeated his rivals. He quipped that such scores were seen in junior or state-level tournaments, highlighting Sinner's ferocity at the top of men's tennis.
"It was fun. It was weird in turn. There weren't that many close matches, right? It was, I think there was like one 3-setter, Fritz got through. But Jannik Sinner was a joke. I mean in the best possible way. He put up score lines, I wanna say it was like 4 and 3, 2 and 4, 4 and 4. He basically had to score 1 and 4 in the semis against Casper and then 4 and 4 again against Fritz in the final," Roddick said.
He continued, "Doing, checking his TC live and then checking his score lines, it's the score lines that you used to drop on people when you were 16 playing like in your state tournaments. And if you were a really good junior, but like, and then kind of take that out and expand it to the best on earth with no two year age groups. What he's done on hard courts this year is absurd."
Jannik Sinner to next play at the Davis Cup Finals 2024
Jannik Sinner's remarkable season has not ended yet, as he is set to represent his nation at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, currently taking place in Malaga, Spain. Sinner was part of the Italian contingent that emerged victorious at the tournament last year. He defeated the Novak Djokovic-led Serbia in the semifinals last year before defeating Australia in the title contest.
At the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, Sinner and the Italians will face off against Argentina in the quarterfinals. The World No. 1 will face Sebastian Baez in one of two singles contests, with Lorenzo Musetti up against Francisco Cerundolo. The winner of the tie will face either the United States or Australia in the semifinals.
If Italy successfully defends its title at the Davis Cup, Jannik Sinner will lift his ninth title of 2024. He has won two Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open), three Masters-1000s (Miami, Cincinnati, and Shanghai), two ATP 500s (Rotterdam and Halle), and the ATP Finals this year.