Former WTA player Andrea Petkovic praised Jannik Sinner when she hit back at claims that his tennis is 'boring'.
Sinner has been one of the best players for much of his career. He was a teenager when he was beating seasoned professionals, and since then, he's only improved. He hasn't changed his style of play, as he's still that aggressive baseliner he always was, but he's become much better at it.
Some might say that his tennis is a bit boring because it doesn't have that "wow" factor, at least not frequently. He's very precise with his shots and doesn't go for anything crazy or flashy.
The methodology is very clear: create a position from which he can strike and then wait until the opportunity presents itself. That can be boring for some people, but Petkovic thinks otherwise.
In her *Finite Jest* blog on Substack, the former player explained what makes Sinner so exciting to watch.
"For anybody who finds his [Sinner's] tennis boring, I would urge you to try and see him live if you can. The way he moves, always in perfect balance, the way his body is leaned slightly forward as if going down a slope on skis, is a thing of beauty. No matter how hard you hit at him, he never falls out of his equilibrium."
As a former player, Petkovic is certainly well-equipped to spot those intricacies that could excite when watching the Italian, but for some fans, it's just about the excitement factor.
They want bombastic returns, drop shots, great rallies—just a moment of magic, which Sinner can produce, but it's not his main goal. His goal is to win the match, which can be done by being consistent and precise.
What is extremely impressive is the way he strikes the ball. That is just very different to some other players, as even fellow players get surprised by how hard he hits the ball sometimes.
Even when the match is on the line, Sinner doesn't take pace off the ball but instead hits it even harder, which can't be observed from the TV screen, but it’s very exciting up close.
"Something you can’t really see on TV is the astonishing fact that Jannik hits the ball even harder, even more decisively, when the biggest moment of the match comes around."
"Even Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal would sometimes take some of the pace off to make more balls when crunch time is on. Not so Jannik Sinner."
"He goes for bigger shots, he goes for more and somehow counterintuitively they seem to become safer the harder he hits. Truly stunning to watch."
Ultimately, some players will be exciting to watch, and others won’t. If all the players played the same way, tennis wouldn’t be so diverse and exciting, so having Carlos Alcaraz is great. Having aannik Sinner is great. Having Nick Kyrgios is also great. That’s what makes it so beautiful.
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