Is Sinner The Best Ball-Striker On Tour? ‘He Has This Extra Gear’

Jannik Sinner is playing some of the best tennis of his career in 2023. The 21-year-old is 19-4 on the year and three of his four losses have come against Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

According to Tennis Insights, the statistics back up his win-loss record. The Italian has not just been winning, but has been doing so with top-tier quality.

Across ATP Tour events in 2023, Sinner’s Shot Quality has ranked second for the forehand, backhand and return. Shot Quality is calculated in real time by analysing each shot’s speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent.

Only Novak Djokovic’s forehand, Borna Coric’s backhand and Daniil Medvedev’s return Shot Qualities have been better. Sinner is the only player in the Top 3 for all three strokes.

Forehand Shot Quality (2023)

Backhand Shot Quality (2023)

Return Shot Quality (2023)

Sinner earned his biggest breakthrough two years ago at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 player. But he feels he is a better player now.

“When I made the final here, I felt like it was completely something new,” Sinner told the media Tuesday in Miami. “Now I feel like I take every match in the best possible way. I go on court with a gameplan and I try to stick with it. Back in the day I was just going for shots without even thinking so much.

“Now it’s a little bit easier to execute it. But for sure I [will] try to go as far as possible and then we’ll see.”

How big do Sinner’s shots feel for opponents? The next player he will face, Emil Ruusuvuori, did not hesitate with his answer.

“Very, very big. He has just this extra gear sometimes that he can put on and just pop it and it just is like a missile,” Ruusuvuori told ATPTour.com. “You can’t leave anything hanging on either side. It’s going to be difficult to get back from those situations so you try to attack first and then go from there.”

‘My level was great, and I felt good on court’ @janniksin

We’re not arguing with that 🤯 #ShotQuality from every area of the game 📈💥#TennisInsights | @atptour | @MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/c8a2T0IGnq

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) March 28, 2023

If Sinner brings the imperious form he showed Tuesday against Andrey Rublev, it will be tough for any opponent to keep up.

Sinner’s jaw-dropping Shot Quality for the forehand (8.6), backhand (8.04) and return (7.47) in 2023 have been as close to the top of the charts as possible. But his metrics against Rublev were significantly better.

The Italian’s forehand Shot Quality was a 9, his backhand was a 9.5 and his return was an 8.5. That led to a resounding 6-2, 6-4 win against the No. 7 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The frequency of a player achieving a Shot Quality of at least 9 on a shot is 0.3 per cent. Sinner did it on two different strokes in the same match.

“We try our best every day and I’m very happy about the performance today,” Sinner said in his post-match interview. “Playing against Andrey is never easy. He serves very well and he plays very aggressive, so I had to change a little bit today. For sure, my level was great, I felt good on court, so hopefully I can keep it up in the next round.”

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