"This story is true" - Jannik Sinner confirms Novak Djokovic once gave him tips on how to play better, says he & his team have been implementing them
Jannik Sinner has said that he and his team have been implementing the tips Novak Djokovic once gave him.
Sinner and Djokovic first faced each other at the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters, where the latter won their Round of 32 contest 6-4, 6-2. After the match, Sinner's coach Riccardo Piatti approached the Serbian and asked him for his thoughts on the Italian's performance.
The World No. 1 graciously obliged and highlighted a few areas that Sinner could work on.
On Friday, January 26, Sinner notched up one of the biggest wins of his career when he beat Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open. He won 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 to end the Serb's 33-match winning streak at the Melbourne Major.
In his on-court interview after the match, Jannik Sinner confirmed the validity of the widely popular story of him getting a few tips from Djokovic a few years ago.
"Yeah, this story is true. I had the chance when I was younger, 16 or 17, to practice with him in Monaco. And I think already there the process of trying to learn from the best players in the world started and then obviously, the match is different," he said.
"He tried to be a little… He told me after the match to try and move the ball a little bit more, being a little bit unpredictable. So yeah, we are trying to do that obviously. The serve has improved a lot but still I have the feeling that I can still improve a lot and that's why I have a great team behind me and we'll keep pushing," he added.
"I don't know, ask him" - Jannik Sinner on the reason for his recent wins against Novak Djokovic
At the end of 2023, Jannik Siiner beat Novak Djokovic twice in three meetings, at the ATP Finals and in the Davis Cup. Additionally, he teamed up with Lorenzo Sonego and beat Djokovic and Miomir Kecmanovic in a Davis Cup doubles tie.
After his Australian Open defeat of Djokovic, Sinner said that he was unsure why he has been successful in recent meetings with the Serb. He explained that the two players have similar styles and gave some insight into the same, before saying that he doesn't want to give away all his tactics just yet.
"I don't know, ask him, I don't know. But I think we play really similar and then you have to, first of all, try to return as many balls as possible. He is such an incredible server. So I try to guess sometimes a little bit also and just try to push, not trying to move him around a little bit," he said.
"I'm not gonna tell you the tactics because it's I have the feeling that, sorry I hope so that, I might play him hopefully a couple of different matches also," he added.
In his maiden Grand Slam final, Jannik Sinner will face either third seed Daniil Medvedev or sixth seed Alexander Zverev.