Tennis News

Turin Update: Rublev Narrows Gap On Djokovic, Medvedev

Russian Andrey Rublev continues to stake a strong claim to a second consecutive appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals after an impressive performance in the first quarter of the 2021 ATP Tour season. Boasting a tour-leading 20 wins on the year, Rublev consolidated his hold on third place in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin with a semi-final showing at the Miami Open presented by Itau, closing the gap on leader Novak Djokovic and countryman and second-placed Daniil Medvedev.

The season’s first ATP Masters 1000 tournament has greatly shaped the early battle for places in Turin, with Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz leaping to fifth spot and 19-year-old Miami finalist Jannik Sinner surging to sixth, to be the highest-positioned Italian.

Rublev (1,800 points) now sits just 330 points away from leader Djokovic and defending champion Medvedev’s second place spot (2,130) in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin. Rublev won his eighth ATP Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, and has reached the quarter-finals or better at all six of his tournaments in 2021.

Five-time former Nitto ATP Finals titlist Djokovic (2,140) holds the top spot for a place at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November 2021. The Top 4 positions have held for the second week in a row, with Stefanos Tsitsipas (1,540) occupying the fourth spot after a run to the quarter-finals in Miami.

Hurkacz’s victory in Miami did more than just propel him inside the Top 20 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. The 24-year-old won the biggest title of his career, and wrote a new chapter in Polish tennis history, by becoming his country’s first ATP Masters 1000 singles champion. As a result, Hurkacz (1,395) rose 13 places in the leaderboard to sit in fifth place, and soared into contention for his first Nitto ATP Finals berth.

#NextGenATP Italian Sinner (995) is also vying to qualify for the first time to the Nitto ATP Finals after a breakthrough week in Miami. The 19-year-old has leaped 10 spots after reaching his first Masters 1000 final, entering Turin contention in seventh place.

Hurkacz also captured his second ATP Tour title in January at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com (d. Korda), while Sinner started the season winning his own second trophy at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne (d. Travaglia).

Also on the rise, Miami semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut (765) is working on closing the gap as he surged to the ninth position. The Spaniard sits just 170 points behind 2018 winner Alexander Zverev (935) in eighth place.

Did You Know?
The top seven players in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin after the Rolex Paris Masters on 8 November 2021 qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. If there is one current-year Grand Slam champion positioned between No. 8 and No. 20 in the Race, he qualifies in eighth place. If there are two current-year Grand Slam champions positioned between No. 8 and No. 20 in the Race, the highest-placed of those players becomes the eighth and final qualifier; the lower-placed Grand Slam champion will serve as the alternate. If there are no current-year Grand Slam champions positioned between No. 8 and No. 20, then the player at No. 8 in the Race will claim the eighth and final berth.

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Sinner: 'I'm Not Here For Finals; I'm Here To Win'

Jannik Sinner fell short of becoming the youngest Miami Open presented by Itau champion in tournament history on Sunday against Hubert Hurkacz, but it wasn’t all bad news for the #NextGenATP Italian.

On Monday, the 19-year-old sensation will climb to a career-high No. 23 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, becoming just the sixth teen since 2010 to break into the Top 30.

“I control everything. I know [in] what position I am, where I’m going to be,” Sinner said. “But for me, the main focus now is what I showed in this tournament: that I improved from the last tournament. Obviously when you get a little bit of confidence, it’s a little bit easier. But you have to work hard to go deep in tournaments, especially in big tournaments.

“For me, improvement is the most important thing. I still have to talk with my team [about] why I lost, what they think, where we have to work… But I think I have to improve on every single part of my game physically, mentally, everything. Then we will see what’s coming.”

TOP 30 TEENS – Age When Cracking The Top 30 (since 2010)

Focussing on improving doesn’t mean Sinner is not disappointed that he was unable to become the sixth teen ATP Masters 1000 champion.

“I think it has been a good week anyway,” Sinner said. “But obviously I’m not here for making finals. I’m here to win tournaments. Today was not my day, [I] accept that. But it’s going back to work and then we will see what I can do on the clay.”

The good news is that the match was not out of his control. In some key moments, Sinner made some mistakes. If the teen had been totally dominated, that would have been more concerning to the Italian. He felt the action was on his racquet.

“I think for me today is a tough day, to be honest, because losing the final here for me is not easy. But I was deciding the whole week what to do with the ball. For that, I’m happy,” Sinner said. “Today went the wrong way. Today you win or you learn. When you’re 19 and playing [the] final here, obviously it’s tough, and I wanted to win.”

Sinner admitted that he “was a bit nervous”. but the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion felt the nerves because he really wanted to lift the trophy. In the end, he simply lost to the better player on the day, and had nothing but congratulations for Hurkacz.

“I think I can learn many things today. For me now it’s tough to talk about the match,” Sinner said. “From the baseline, I was deciding what to do. Today I made a couple of mistakes in important moments, yes, but I was dictating, so I’m happy about that.

“And now [I will go] back to work and now the clay season is on, so I don’t want to waste time today. I think I can learn many things. Next week already is another tournament. [I’ve] got to be ready.”

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How Hurkacz Stuck Sinner In The "Backhand Cage"

One hour. One groundstroke winner. One new trophy for the mantlepiece.

Hubert Hurkacz defeated Jannik Sinner 7-6(4), 6-4 in the Miami Open final on Sunday with a clever neutralising strategy focussed on locking the young Italian in the “backhand cage” and throwing away the key. Hurkacz claimed his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title by putting a mesmerising amount of balls in the court and letting Sinner swing for the fences and miss.

Absorb. Repel. Defend. Counter. Straight out of a Rocky movie.

The match was 56 minutes old when Hurkacz hit his first groundstroke winner to bring up set point in the first set. It was a Serve +1 forehand winner struck at the service line from a weak return of serve. It was an outlier. Hurkacz would finish the match with 10 rally winners while hardly going for any. Ironically, Sinner finished with 12 rally winners while trying to light it up on almost every point.

Hurkacz’s primary strategy was to play as much backhand-to-backhand tennis as possible through the Ad court. The following Hawk-Eye graphics clearly show the engine room of Hurkacz’s victory.

2021 Miami Final: Backhand Direction

Hurkacz hit 56 per cent of his rally backhands crosscourt to the outer third of the court. Sinner hit 57 per cent back crosscourt, making backhand-to-backhand exchanges through the Ad court the dominant rally direction for the match. Hurkacz had very little interest going backhand line to Sinner’s potent forehand, only hitting 13 per cent of his backhands to this specific location.

In many ways, Hurkacz’s four-part strategy was a throwback to how matches traditionally unfolded in our sport.

Part 1 – Target the opponent’s backhand with a barrage of groundstrokes. Make it “overheat”.

Part 2 – The opponent’s forehand is forced to go for too much to cover for the ailing backhand.

Part 3 – The server now feels pressure to end points early, and consequently misses too much.

Part 4 – The opponent loses their way mentally, unable to formulate a winning game plan.

Chip away at the backhand first. Then the forehand and serve consequently self-destruct. Once you reach the mind, it’s game over. Sinner said as much in his post-match interview.

“Well, I made some unforced errors. I made a few or a couple of mistakes in the tie-break. Then I was not serving well, especially in the beginning of the second set, and not returning deep enough,” Sinner said.

2021 Miami Final: Forehand Direction

The Hawk-Eye graphic above adds another layer of clarity to Hurkacz’s “backhand cage” masterplan. Hurkacz directed 54 per cent of his forehands wide to Sinner’s backhand in the Ad court, which is almost the same as the 56 per cent from his backhand wing to the same location. Sinner’s primary target was to hit his forehand wide at Hurkacz’s forehand, where he went 52 per cent of the time. But instead of entertaining forehand-to-forehand exchanges, Hurkacz constantly changed direction and made Sinner have to hit another backhand.

Sinner struck 31 per cent of rally forehands from inside the baseline, but just 15 per cent from the backhand wing came from inside the baseline. Sinner’s forehand was more lethal, which is why Hurkacz limited exposure to that side. Overall, both players hit more backhands from the back of the court, which proved a key advantage for the Pole.

Hurkacz Rally Shots
• Forehand = 47.7% (137)
• Backhand = 52.3% (150)

Sinner Rally Shots
• Forehand = 47.9% (142)
• Backhand = 52.1% (154)

Sinner’s average groundstroke speed was 76 miles per hour, which was considerably harder than 70 miles per hour from Hurkacz. How you hit the ball matters. Where you hit it matters more.

– All graphics thanks to Hawk-Eye Innovations/ATP Media

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Hurkacz: ‘I Had A Big Belief In Myself’ In Miami

Hubert Hurkacz’s signature grin was wider than ever after the Miami Open presented by Itau final, where he claimed the biggest title of his career with a victory over Jannik Sinner on Sunday.

He had to play the best tennis of his life to defeat his good friend and occasional doubles partner in the final, after defeating second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and fourth seed Andrey Rublev along the way. It was Hurkacz’s first time defeating back-to-back Top 10 players at the same tournament, improving his record against the elite group to 7-10.

“I played [some] of the best tennis I’ve ever played,” Hurkacz said in his post-match press conference. “I was solid throughout the whole tournament, and I was able to get through each round, [and] was even more pumped for the next round. I think that’s something special for me.

“My tennis is getting better. We work hard with my coach, [Craig Boynton], and I’m super happy that it happened here. We still need to improve a couple of things and just try to get better each day.”

For the 24 year old from Poland, the Miami event is the closest thing to his home turf on the ATP Tour. Hurkacz lives and trains part-time in Tampa, where Boynton is based, and he started the 2021 season with a victory at the nearby Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

“Last year I spent so much time in Florida,” Hurkacz said. “I was here like almost half of the year. We were working pretty hard, and I think I’m used to the conditions. I think [that’s] been part of the success I had here in Florida.”

His victory in Miami made him the first player from his country to win an ATP Masters 1000 title, adding another page in the incredible chapter of Polish tennis history. In 2020, Iga Swiatek became the first Polish Grand Slam singles champion with her victory at Roland Garros – a milestone moment that Hurkacz took inspiration from in his own Miami run.

“I was super proud of Iga. What she has done there in [the] French Open was amazing,” Hurkacz recalled. “I think that gave the belief for us: for me, myself, and the younger players in Poland that it’s possible to win those big titles.

“Hopefully with my game, I can also inspire some people in Poland and hopefully they enjoyed it there. I’m super, super proud to be Polish, and I’m thankful for all the support that I get.”

Hurkacz will depart from South Florida with a 10-0 record in the state, and a new career-high No. 16 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings. With self-belief at a sky high, Hurkacz is hoping to continue the positive momentum for the European clay swing and beyond.

“I had a big belief in myself from the beginning of the season,” Hurkacz said. “Winning the tournament like this gives you extra motivation and self-confidence that, okay, you’re able to do it. Like, you came through some really hard moments here, and you just try to do it.”

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Miami Open: Hubert Hurkacz beats Jannik Sinner to win first Masters title

Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz claims his first ATP Masters 1000 title by beating Italian teenager Jannik Sinner in the Miami Open final.

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Scouting Report: Alcaraz & Musetti In Action In Marbella & Cagliari

Two ATP 250 events on single-year licenses will be contested this week on clay in Europe. Daniel Evans and a slew of Italians will lead the way at the Sardegna Open in Cagliari, and Pablo Carreno Busta will try to triumph on home soil at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open In Marbella.

ATPTour.com looks at five things you should know before each event.

Draws: Cagliari | Marbella

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN CAGLIARI
1) Lorenzo Squared: Two Lorenzo’s — Lorenzo Sonego and Lorenzo Musetti — will lead Italian hopes at the Sardegna Open. Although Sonego has not received nearly as much attention as Musetti and Jannik Sinner, the 25-year-old has proven himself a tough foe on clay. He reached the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals in 2019 and won the Antalya title later that year.

Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, has taken the ATP Tour by storm with runs to the Acapulco semi-finals and the Miami third round. The #NextGenATP star will open against Austrian Dennis Novak.

2) Excellent Evans: Daniel Evans has proven himself one of the trickiest opponents on Tour with his all-court game, which features plenty of variety in spins and pace. Will that prove the case on the Cagliari clay? The Brit is the top seed at the ATP 250 tournament, where he will play Musetti or Novak in the second round. Earlier this season, Evans earned maiden glory at the Murray River Open in Melbourne. He also reached the doubles final last week in Miami alongside Neal Skupski. 

3) American Charge: Two of the eight seeds in the singles draw are from the United States: second seed Taylor Fritz and eighth seed Tommy Paul, who are close friends. Fritz will play Andrej Martin or Jiri Vesely in his opener, as he tries to pick up on clay where he left off at Roland Garros last year. In Paris, he made the third round. Paul, who pushed Dominic Thiem to four sets at the clay-court major in 2019, will play Yannick Hanfmann.

4) Clay Stars: Other players to watch include fourth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, who has won two ATP 500 titles on clay (both in Hamburg), seventh seed Guido Pella, 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato and big-hitting fifth seed Jan-Lennard Struff. Gilles Simon, who will play home favourite Stefano Travaglia, is the only former Top 10 player in the field.

5) Melo/Rojer Search For Form, Berrettini Brothers In Action: Veterans Marcelo Melo and Jean-Julien Rojer are the top seeds in the Cagliari doubles draw. They will try to find their form in Italy after losing three of their first four matches as a team. Although Matteo Berrettini is not playing singles this week, he will compete in the doubles field alongside his brother, Jacopo Berrettini.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN MARBELLA
1) PCB Title Hunting: The top seed in Marbella is Pablo Carreno Busta, whose lone clay-court title came in Estoril in 2017. The Spaniard earned two victories for his country in this year’s ATP Cup and made the third round of the Australian Open. Now Carreno Busta, who will open against a qualifier, will try to surge to his fifth ATP Tour title and his first on home soil.

2) Fabulous Fabio: Few players strike the ball as cleanly as Fabio Fognini, and the second seed will try to show some of that this week at this ATP 250. The Italian, who will start his run against Jaume Munar or a qualifier, has enjoyed success in Spain before. In 2015, Fognini upset Rafael Nadal in Barcelona. He also lifted the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters trophy in 2019.

3) #NextGenATP Stars To Watch: The #NextGenATP will try to make an impact in Marbella with wild cards Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune. Alcaraz continues his climb towards the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings after a strong start to the season, in which he beat World No. 14 David Goffin at the Great Ocean Road Open before making the second round of the Australian Open. The 17-year-old, who begins his tournament against a qualifier, might face 39-year-old countryman Feliciano Lopez in the second round.

Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune, another 17-year-old wild card, qualified in Santiago, where he made the quarter-finals. Rune will try to upset seventh seed Soonwoo Kwon.

4) Ruud On Clay: Casper Ruud, armed with his devastating forehand, has won 65 per cent of his tour-level matches on clay. The Norwegian, seeded third this week, will try to continue excelling on the surface in Marbella, where he will play third seed Gianluca Mager or Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round. Mager has found form at this venue, where the Italian won an ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday.

5) Belgians The Top Seeds: The top seeds in the doubles draw are Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. The longtime partners have won five ATP Tour titles together since the start of 2019, and they will try to add a sixth in Spain. Their first-round opponents will be home favourites David Marrero Adrian Menendez-Maceiras.

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Pole Position: Hurkacz Claims First Masters 1000 Title In Miami

Hubert Hurkacz became Poland’s first ATP Masters 1000 champion on Sunday after taking down 19-year-old Jannik Sinner 7-6(4), 6-4 in the Miami Open presented by Itau final.

The 24-year-old needed one hour and 45 minutes to clinch the biggest ATP Tour title of his career, and his second of the year after lifting the trophy at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com. The victory extended Hurkacz’s unbeaten 2021 run in South Florida to 10-0.

“Last year I spent here almost half a year,” Hurkacz said in an on-court interview. “I was practising in the hottest weather during the spring and summer here, so I think that helped me a lot playing now in Florida, especially in these pretty tough conditions here, because it was a little bit slow here. The wind was blowing from side to side sometimes, so it’s huge.” 

His opponent and occasional doubles partner Sinner, the 21st seed, was trying to become the youngest Miami men’s champion in history at 19 years and seven months. The pair have teamed up to play doubles twice this season – including a quarter-final appearance at last month’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – but on Sunday they faced each other in singles for the first time.

“Hubi, many congratulations for this week and a half,” said the #NextGenATP Italian. “I think you showed what talent you have. I’m more proud what kind of person you are. I have to say [you are] maybe my best friend on Tour. Maybe we should play more doubles together.”

It was the Polish player’s experience that ultimately made the difference, with 26th seed Hurkacz looking calm as he powered his way to an early break in each set. Hurkacz dictated with his forehand and forced errors off the Sinner racquet as he took a 3-0 lead. Sinner needed a few games to settle into the contest, but he lifted his level emphatically to get the break back.

Hurkacz kept Sinner under pressure, creating 11 break opportunities throughout the match, and converting on seven occasions. One of those breaks came at 6-5: with Sinner serving for the set the Pole broke to love as he outlasted Sinner from the baseline to send them into the tie-break.

It would prove to be a pivotal game for Sinner, who racked up 39 unforced errors throughout the match, including 28 in the first set alone. The Italian was never able to bounce back after dropping the first set, and Hurkacz powered his way to a 4-0 lead in the second set with a double break.

Although Sinner managed to fight back one of the breaks to narrow the gap to 4-3, he was unable to make any more inroads against the big Hurkacz serve. The Pole didn’t face a break point for the next three games as he served out his third ATP Tour title in Miami.

“The balls felt slow when I went to serve,” Hurkacz said of the final game. “Obviously a tough point. You really want to get a couple of free points and Jannik’s an amazing returner. It was a tough game.”

With the victory, Hurkacz will break into the Top 20 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time, moving from No. 37 to a career-high No. 16 on Monday. Sinner is also projected to reach a new career-high of his own, rising to No. 23 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

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Fashion Photographer Captures Miami Moments With Tsitsipas, Rublev & More

Los Angeles-based Czech fashion photographer Radka Leitmeritz turned her lens to the tennis courts throughout the Miami Open presented by Itau for a series of behind-the-scenes portraits featuring ATP Tour and WTA Tour players. 

Leitmeritz’s evocative work has previously featured in the pages and covers of international fashion magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, L’Officiel and Elle. Now, ATP Tour stars like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, Andrey Rublev and Diego Schwartzman (pictured above) have been her muses in South Florida.

“I think the misconception coming from the fashion world is that everyone I photograph is going to look like a top model,” Leitmeritz said of working with tennis players. “Everyone is beautiful and I like to capture something really personal about them in a different environment.

“I’m free from the history or knowing too much about them. This is a privileged situation. Shooting a person who is very famous that you don’t know is the best. I just see them, I feel a certain energy.”

Her keen lens caught players like Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov on their way to the practice court, and also captured quiet moments with Daniil Medvedev, Tommy Paul, Aslan Karatsev and more around the Hard Rock Stadium grounds.

Leitmeritz also photographed WTA Tour stars including Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu and Coco Gauff. See more images at WTATennis.com.

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French Open could be postponed because of increasing coronavirus cases

France’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu says the French Open could be postponed because of a surge in coronavirus cases.

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Secrets To Sinner's Surge: Dinner With Sharapova, Quarantining With Rafa

Jannik Sinner is the hottest young star in men’s tennis. On Sunday, the 19-year-old will have a chance to become the youngest champion in Miami Open presented by Itau history when he plays Hubert Hurkacz. To understand the teen’s rise, you must know that winning has not been his priority.

In September 2019, the #NextGenATP star was eating dinner a restaurant in Dolceacqua, Italy, less than an hour’s drive from Monte Carlo. Also at the table was his coach, Riccardo Piatti. More notable attendees were former World No. 1s Maria Sharapova and Marat Safin. Sharapova had recently started working with Piatti.

It was a night of friends sharing stories and simply enjoying the evening. But Sinner, who was two when Sharapova won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004, was in attendance by design according to Piatti.

“I wanted Jannik to understand the mentality of a No. 1. Maria has priorities,” Piatti told ATPTour.com. “When she is on the court, she is watching the ball, hitting the ball and doing everything perfect. When she plays points, she’s focussed to play the points. When she’s off the court, she’s focussed on the fitness part, physical part. When she finishes everything, she’s social.

“Maria is an example that she has a great mentality to be a champion.”

 

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A post shared by Jannik Sinner (@janniksin)

Up until that point, Sinner was still relatively unknown outside of hardcore fans. The teen had not yet cracked the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, nor had he competed in the Next Gen ATP Finals. But Piatti was desperate for his charge to spend as much time around champions as possible to learn even the smallest lessons from them.

“It’s not me explaining [a lesson], but another one like Nadal or Maria,” Piatti said. “He saw the mentality from these players. Maria was very, very important for me and for him.”

Less than two months later, Sinner captured the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy as a wild card and then won his third ATP Challenger Tour title the following week in Ortisei. Although he enjoys winning, that has never been his biggest focus. In nearly every press conference he participates in, Sinner tells reporters about how he is focussed on improving and the “long road” ahead of him.

That is why Piatti, who has worked with the likes of Ivan Ljubicic and Richard Gasquet, was so excited when he got a call from Carlos Moya ahead of this year’s trip to Australia. The Spaniard wanted to see if Sinner would be Nadal’s quarantine practice partner.

“Of course I was very happy, because you need to live with these guys. These guys are quite simple and focussed about what they are doing and Jannik likes [this] and he understands that Rafa is quite similar to him. The only difference is he won 20 Slams. Small difference,” Piatti said, cracking a laugh. “He understands, ‘Okay, if I do everything correct and I’m young and I need to continue like this, I can reach some of my dreams.’ It was in the perfect moment of his career.

“I think that these 14 days for Jannik were perfect to understand Rafa’s mind.”

However shocking it is, the Italian has only been fully focussed on tennis since he was 14. It wasn’t until then that he moved to Piatti’s academy in Bordighera from San Candido — which is near the Austrian border — and moved on from skiing.

“That was kind of a life-changer for me, because I never played tennis. I only played two times a week tennis. When I came there, I practised every day, morning and afternoon,” Sinner said. “For me, that was very tough in the beginning, so that’s what helped me, just working hard every day and [trying not to] lose energy on court, because [your day is] already tough. If you lose extra energy without any sense, it’s even tougher.”

Sinner is a sponge. If he wins, great. If he learns, even better. That is part of the reason Sinner has quickly become one of the calmest players on Tour, showing great maturity despite his age. Another reason behind this, according to Piatti, is his skiing background.

“If you ski or you make some race, you understand immediately that you need to be concentrated and if you make a mistake, you are out. In tennis, he was thinking that was the game,” Piatti said. “He liked tennis because he can make a mistake and then immediately come back and play again… he’s coming from a small village and his parents are good workers. He knows that everybody needs to work and if they want something, they need to do very well.”

Sinner comes from a humble family. Both of his parents work in a restaurant. His father Johann is a chef, and his mother Siglinde is a waitress.

“I saw that he was playing well, but what took my attention was outside the court. He was a 14-year-old kid, but he controlled the mind of a young man of 17, 18, 19,” Piatti said. “Immediately you see these kinds of kids. Jannik was like that. He has the personality to stay with everybody, so he was quite mature. I was focussed on that and after that I tried to help build his game.”

During professional tennis’ five-month suspension last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Piatti would choose at least two matches per week for Sinner to watch. He didn’t want his charge to want the world’s best playing well, though.

“I showed not when Novak was playing well, but when Novak was playing badly. That was important for me,” Piatti said.

It was about figuring out how champions manage their tough moments and still win. Sinner has already learned from some of his own experiences. At last year’s US Open, the Italian let slip a two-set lead against Karen Khachanov, falling in a fifth-set tie-break. In the second half of that clash, he was clearly cramping. Afterwards, he called Piatti to ask what went wrong and if he wasn’t fit enough. Piatti believes it was the mental stress and hydration — or lack thereof — that led him to cramp, not his fitness. Sinner still managed to find a way to nearly win the match, and he learned from that.

A similar situation happened in Miami when he played Khachanov again. After losing a physically gruelling first set in the Florida heat, Sinner appeared headed out of the tournament. Instead, he found a way to win. Now, he is on the verge of becoming just the sixth teen to lift a Masters 1000 trophy. Win or lose, though, Piatti’s goals are much bigger.

“Of course, winning Slams and becoming No. 1. I spoke with him already that I already had two players, Milos Raonic and Ivan Ljubicic No. 3. Now the goal is different,” Piatti said. “I want someone [to accomplish] more and this project started many years ago. It is not just what is going to [happen] tomorrow [in Miami].”

Sinner is beginning to lose the element of surprise on Tour. Although he clearly has the game to compete against the world’s best — in last year’s Roland Garros quarter-finals, the Italian even went blow for blow in many rallies against Nadal before losing in straight sets — opponents will begin to learn his tendencies.

“Roger Federer when he won Milan the first time is not the Roger Federer playing now and it’s the same for Djokovic and Rafa. They’re improving a lot and they are changing a lot,” Piatti said. “I think Jannik has this kind of potential.”

Tomorrow, the world will see if Sinner is ready for Masters 1000 glory. But only time will tell just how many titles the Italian will rack up. For now, Piatti just wants his player to continue learning everything he can, even if it’s just by sitting at a dinner table.

“[This final is] an important moment, but not the last moment. It’s part of what he needs to do,” Piatti said. “I’m very happy that it came now, but the season is long and the process is long.”

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