The former coach of Serena Williams, Rennae Stubbs, believes that Jannik Sinner resembles Novak Djokovic and has more upside than Carlos Alcaraz.
Tennis opinions are formed mostly on recency bias, and they change often. For Rennae Stubbs, who is the former coach of Serena Williams, Jannik Sinner has overtaken Carlos Alcaraz right now.
It's no wonder, as the Italian has been utterly amazing in the past six months, and he just won his maiden Grand Slam final. Meanwhile, Alcaraz hasn't won any trophies, and he just injured his ankle.
The stock has never been lower for Alcaraz, while Sinner is currently at an all-time high. Speaking about Sinner in her most recent episode of her podcast, Stubbs noted how the Italian looks ahead of Alcaraz right now. She also thinks that he has a higher upside.
"I think that [Jannik] Sinner has more upside [than Carlos Alcaraz]. I think it can get better at hitting the dropshot, which he is doing. He is implementing that forehand dropshot which is great, even won him a couple of really big points against Alex de Minaur, who is arguably the best mover in tennis."
The Australian also noted the work of her compatriot Darren Cahill in making Sinner a better tennis player. Once they teamed up, it was only a matter of time before the influence showed, and it's been the case in recent months.
"He hit that a couple of times against him on some big points, couple of break points. I think his net game is improving experientially. Darren [Cahill] turned a huge influence in that department. So, I think he is moving forward his dropshots and his slice backhand. That's a work in progress."
Another thing that she noted was that Sinner looked like Djokovic. Essentially, there is nowhere to go to win a point against him.
"You think about, 'Where he is attackable? Where do you win a point against him?' You can't. He is like the same version of Novak Djokovic."