According to legendary Spanish coach and Rafael Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, Jannik Sinner has become too good for the majority of his opponents.
The Italian has been around for a while, and when he was a teenager giving Nadal problems at Roland Garros, many fans wondered when his proper breakout would come.
It meant winning a Grand Slam, and it finally happened four years later at the 2024 Australian Open. The Italian wasted no time in adding to his collection, winning his second Grand Slam at the recently concluded US Open at the age of 23.
He also became World No. 1 on the ATP Tour in the meantime, and, unfortunately, tested positive for a banned substance, clostebol, so after taking it slow for a while, Sinner is now charging at lightning speed this year.
The Italian has played superbly, and everything he’s achieved this year has been well deserved. In his column for El Pais, Toni Nadal noted how Sinner has essentially become unstoppable for the vast majority of players he faces.
His super aggressive yet controlled style is just too good. He punishes every chance opponents give him, leaving little room to counter, and most players simply aren’t able to muster what’s necessary.
Even if they do, his level is just too consistent, as he keeps pushing and rarely makes mistakes, which ultimately led him to already two major trophies so early into his tennis career.
"Today, he has become a player who is practically unstoppable for the vast majority of his opponents. He is capable of delivering each of his strokes with great speed and of making very few unforced errors."
"Overcoming him from the back of the court is almost impossible, and this is precisely, in my opinion, the mistake that Fritz made in the first two sets: making the wrong decision to play very fast rallies from the back of the court and trying to surprise him or hit a winner; but making the Italian miss was, as we could see, practically impossible."
The US Open final against Taylor Fritz was undoubtedly interesting, because many fans thought that Fritz could actually hurt the top seed. Fritz himself fancied his chances, but as Nadal pointed out, the American fell quite short of troubling his opponent too much.
At times, Fritz played really well and pushed Sinner around, but it was not sustainable for the entire match, and the American bowed out without even winning a single set.
Despite recognizing how great Sinner is, the Spanish coach still naturally prefers his compatriot, Carlos Alcaraz, who he hopes will be a good enough challenger for the 23-year-old player from Italy.
At the moment, Alcaraz has twice as many major titles to his name, but with the way Sinner has played recently, he could quickly turn the race around, unless the Spaniard manages to regularly outplay him.
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