Daniil Medvedev has pinpointed some of the key aspects of Jannik Sinner’s game as he highlighted one specific shot that he believes has been vital to the Italian’s rise over the past year.
Sinner has been in sensational form over the past 13 months as he has won six titles – including a maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open – and has moved to a career-high No 3 in the ATP Rankings.
The Italian is 21-1 in 2024 with his only defeat coming in the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open against Carlos Alcaraz.
Daniil Medvedev has now twice been on the losing side to Sinner this season as he lost in the Australian Open final as well as the Miami Open semi-final.
Just over a year ago, Medvedev dominated the head-to-head 6-0, but Sinner has now won their five most recent encounters and the Russian has seen the evolution in front of his own eyes.
Asked to explain the gains his rival has made, Medvedev picked out his serve as his key weapon as he admitted it is a difficult shot to improve.
“As a person, I think he’s the same. We don’t know each other, like, too close but we get along well. I don’t see any difference,” he said.
“As a player, he misses less, he chooses his shots more wisely. He serves 10 times better. You know, Jannik was always serving well, but now he serves like big, big.
“Yeah, I wonder actually how he made it, because serve is not that easy, it’s not that easy shot to work on, and now he’s, yeah, his serve is a big improvement for him and kind of what I have could have done better today, the serve.”
The scary part for Medvedev and the rest of the ATP Tour is the fact that Sinner seems to be improving every tournament.
Medvedev likened the Italian’s rise to that of Carlos Alcaraz and admitted that it will be “tough” for players to beat Sinner.
“I was not there when Big 3 came on tour, so for sure me, I didn’t see anyone, let’s say well, Carlos. Yeah, Carlos, the way he went up, I think went up a different way. Carlos maybe a bit faster. But in a way, they both went up very young and kind of straight to the top.
“He’s playing well now. He doesn’t miss much and he can make winners so well. He serves very well. Even today the few moments where maybe I could have came back in the match here and there, 130 on the line, slice on the line, second serve on the line, deep, and yeah, that’s tough to play when he plays like this.
“You know, the next time I’m gonna play I’m gonna try for sure to play better, maybe a bit different, and let’s see if he manages to continue to play the way he does, because if he manages, it’s going to be tough for many other players.”