Jannik Sinner recently won his first ATP 1000 trophy at the Canadian Open, which added confidence ahead of the US Open.
The Italian has played really well on hard courts for a long time, but he's never quite gotten the breakthrough until recently. He made his way to the Canadian Open final in Toronto and smashed Alex de Minaur in the final.
It was a huge win for Sinner, an important win which will give him confidence ahead of the US Open. He narrowly missed out on the final last year, and going all the way will certainly be the goal, but there was some doubt before arriving in the United States.
I feel like for sure the confidence is going to be a little bit higher, but also my expectations are going to be higher. When I came here (to Toronto), I knew that I can play very, very good. So this is a great result, and then we'll see how it goes in the future.
Former legendary doubles player Todd Woodbridge, who talked to ausopen.com, thinks that Sinner can win the US Open, but he'll need to get Novak Djokovic out of the equation. The Serbian presents a terrible matchup for Sinner, and getting past him will be key.
For him to win one, you just have to get Novak out of the equation. And then he can win. That's my take. If Casper Ruud can make three Grand Slam finals, (then) if Jannik Sinner makes a final, he has a better chance of winning than what Ruud has.
I'm sure he's looking at that... Sinner has a bigger game, much bigger forehand, because he stands up in the court. He'll take the backhand return earlier; he has that ability to first strike. So he's got these weapons, and I think he's building to be able to get to that final.