Jannik Sinner's ball striking has always been a strength of his, and his coach, Darren Cahill, compared it to legends like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Whenever you mention any up-and-coming player and compare him to legends like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal, people are quite surprised. The reason is pretty simple. There are simply not many players like them, so the chance of a player actually being on their level in any way is pretty minor.
Still, Sinner's coach, Darren Cahill, compared his ball-striking to theirs. Sinner has always been a pretty special talent in that way, as it was always one of his strengths. Even as a teenager, Sinner was able to outhit some of the better players, and he showed it best against Novak Djokovic recently.
"The sound of the ball when he hits it is unique and special. He gets that from his timing and his hand speed. He's worked damn hard to be able to do that. Agassi hits the ball like that. When he hits the ball, it just sounds like it's hit harder than everybody else."
According to Cahill, it's pretty noticeable and quite distinctive. Either you have it, or you don't, and generally, the players do have it; they tend to end up as great champions. We'll see if that is in store for Sinner in the coming years. The start of it might happen on Sunday in the 2024 Australian Open final.
"A lot of the great champions. Rafa was the exactly the same. Roger, when he hit a forehand, you could just hear the sound of it. And Novak, when he hits a forehand and backhand, it's like a thud."
"It's not just a normal person striking the ball. All those players have a different sound when they hit the ball and Jannik certainly has that, as well."
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